Every person has a different definition of what success looks like. Whatever that definition may be, to set yourself up for that success, you need a plan. To achieve that plan, it helps to have goals.
鈥淲riting down vague, unattainable goals can derail motivation very quickly. To make sure your goals are motivating and effective, you should focus on writing SMART goals.鈥� 鈥� Professor Douglas Fox, Hybrid Learning Programs Liaison at Unity College
Here is a closer look at the meaning and definition of SMART goals, and how you can use them to drive your personal and professional success.
What Are SMART Goals?
SMART聽is an acronym that outlines five things that should guide goal setting. If a goal is SMART it will be all of the following:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Timely
Taking a look at each one of these elements of a聽SMART聽goal will demonstrate more specifically how and why they are important.
Specific
Many聽goals聽cannot be reached because they are too vague. You need to outline specifically what you want to do and why. If your goal is geographic-specific, it should include the location. If it involves other people, it should include that, as well. A good way to ensure your goal is specific enough is by asking yourself the five W鈥檚:
- What do I want to accomplish?
- Why is this important to me?
- Who is involved?
- Where in the world do I have to be to achieve this?
- Which resources are involved?
An example of a specific goal would be: 鈥淚 want to reduce the carbon footprint for my department by decreasing paper transactions and increasing the number of environmentally-friendly lighting options in our part of the building.”
Measurable
How will you decide if you have reached your goal? It needs a clearly defined metric that you can use to check it off at some point.聽Goals聽you cannot measure feel unattainable and always out of reach, but measurable聽goals聽give you the ability to know, without a doubt, that you鈥檝e attained them.
Adding a metric of some sort that measures quantity or time helps you create a measurable goal. For the eco-friendly example above, the person could add the desire to reduce their department’s carbon footprint by a certain percentage, such as 30%.聽
Now the goal becomes: “I want to reduce the carbon footprint for my department by decreasing paper transactions by 30% and replacing all lighting with LED lighting options in our part of the building.”
Achievable
Make sure you set a goal that you are capable of achieving, but that will stretch your abilities and provide a challenge. If the goal is truly out of reach, it will not motivate you toward success.
When stating your goal, consider how you will accomplish it, and if it is reasonable. For instance, you might love to win a Nobel Peace Prize, but this is not realistic or achievable for most people. Instead, make your goal something that is realistically possible within a relatively short time frame.
For example, someone who has just started their career may not find that it鈥檚 reasonable to have a goal of becoming the CEO of the company within two years. There is a process that they must follow to rise to leadership. However, it may be feasible to become a leader within their specific branch of the business within a few years, depending on the structure of the company.
To write achievable聽goals, also make sure you have the time and resources necessary to complete the tasks in the goal. In our example, the person making the goal needs to have the authority and budget to make these changes. Or the ability to communicate with the person who does have the authority and budget to make the proposed changes. If these factors are possible, then the goal is achievable.
Relevant
Your聽goals聽should relate to your overall career聽goals聽and passions in life. Each聽SMART聽goal you set should feel worthwhile. It should also be at the right time within your career, and meet your needs, efforts, and skills.
Our example is relevant to your career if your company values eco-friendliness or is open to suggestions regarding the company鈥檚 mission, values, or practices.
Timely
Finally, set a date for yourself, if possible. This gives you a metric to measure and also helps you prioritize if you have more than one goal on the table at a time. Make sure your time frames are realistic and that they push you toward your final objective.
In our example, you could say: “I want to reduce the carbon footprint for my department by decreasing paper transactions by 30% and replacing all lighting with LED lighting options in our part of the building by the end of the quarter.”
By giving yourself a deadline, you will push yourself harder to achieve the goal. If your goal does not have a time frame then it will make it difficult to measure progress, which then can lead to a decrease in motivation.
How Can SMART Goals Help My Career?
It鈥檚 easy to get stuck in a rut, particularly within your career. You go to work every day and accomplish the tasks on your desk, but never really push yourself to achieve more. SMART goals give you that added boost to push yourself further in your career.
In fact, these types of聽goals聽have聽聽that shows they help people achieve more. With these clearly defined timed聽goals, you increase your motivation. No longer do you go to work to do your job and go home, but you go to work with a purpose and a goal in mind.
How, specifically, can聽SMART聽goals聽help your career? Consider using these聽goals聽to:
- Increase your professional development鈥擲et a goal of specific skills or classes you wish to complete or attain by the end of a specific time period.
- Add leadership development鈥擡veryone wants to be seen as a leader, so design a goal that shows how you will accomplish and measure this.
- Embrace a career change鈥擠o you want to change careers? Use聽SMART聽goals聽to accomplish this by outlining the steps along the way.
- Achieve a promotion鈥擲MART聽goals聽can outline the path to a promotion by breaking it down into steps and putting deadlines on those steps.
With聽SMART聽goals, you not only motivate yourself, but you give yourself a clear path toward attaining your聽goals. This increases the chances that you will successfully reach the聽goals聽you set for yourself, and it can make your career more successful and rewarding.
How to Write SMART Goals
Now that you understand the importance of聽SMART聽goals, it鈥檚 time to start writing some down. How can you do this? Take it step-by-step.
First, start with your initial goal. This goal will not be聽SMART.聽Common types of goals are to increase, decrease, create, improve, save or develop something. Perhaps your goal is to start your own consultancy firm using the skills that you gained working for your company. Write this down.
Next, break down the聽SMART聽parts. Here鈥檚 how this might look:
- Specific鈥擨 will open my own consultancy business.
- Measurable鈥擬y new business will cover at least 50% of my current salary.
- Achievable鈥擝y setting the goal of 50% at first, I am able to achieve this goal and open my own consultancy business in a relatively short time frame.
- Relevant鈥擨 need 50% of my current salary to live in my desired apartment in my city and have the things I need for day-to-day life. This will give me the flexibility to step away from my current position or take on part-time work while I grow my business.
- Measurable鈥擨 am setting a goal to achieve this by the end of the fiscal year.
After outlining all five steps, you are ready to write the goal, something like this: 鈥淚 will sign enough contracts with businesses I find inspiring that I can replace 50% of my current salary with consultancy work and open my own consultancy business by the end of this fiscal year. This will give me the freedom to live in my chosen apartment and step away from my current career, taking on part-time work until my business grows sufficiently.鈥�
Following Through on SMART Goals
Once you have written down your聽SMART聽goals, it鈥檚 time to put them into practice. They should outline steps you can take to achieve them, but you are the only person who can put the plan to work. Use the聽goals聽as steppingstones to help you achieve your ideal position in your career or personal life.
After you have put your goals into practice, don鈥檛 forget to set regular check-ins and celebrate the wins, no matter how small. These two strategies will help you stay on track and maintain motivation. These strategies will help reassure that you are continuously making progress and hitting milestones. With that regular boost of confidence and affirmation, it will be easier to keep working toward that end goal.
SMART Goal Examples
SMART聽goals聽are easiest to understand by looking at聽examples聽of well-written聽goals. Here are some common聽goals聽you might have in your career or business, and how they can be transformed to be聽SMART:
1. Grow an Email Subscriber List
If you own your own business, you need email subscribers for it to be successful. Growing that list is a good goal, but it鈥檚 not聽SMART. It has no metric, deadline, and relevancy. Here is how you could write that differently: 鈥淚 want to add 1,000 subscribers to my聽smart聽goal through increased blog traffic within six months.鈥�
This goal is measurable, has a deadline, is relevant to your business鈥檚 growth, and is achievable through increased blog traffic.
2. Get a Promotion
If you are eyeing a promotion, outline a聽SMART聽goal to help you get there: 鈥淚 will complete training and add more marketing skills to my resume so I can become the manager of my department by September 1.鈥�
This goal is SMART if it is achievable, and that is only determined based on whether or not that management position will be opening in the next year. If it will, and you can achieve your training in time, then it is a good goal.
3. Increase Visibility
In order to get noticed in your career, you need to be more visible. If you tend to hide in the crowd, this will be difficult. A goal to increase visibility may read like this: 鈥淚 will speak up at meetings and appointments so I can share my ideas at 25% of these meetings by the end of the month.鈥�
While this might seem like a simple goal compared to the goal of a promotion or management position, it is an achievable and measurable goal that can increase your success within your business.
4. Reduce Environmental Impact
Perhaps your goal is to help your company reduce its impact on the environment. To write this as a聽SMART聽goal, it must be personal to you and relevant to your work within the company. You could write this: 鈥淚 will eliminate 50% of my paper waste by going 鈥榩aperless鈥� for half of my tasks and accounts within the next three months.鈥�
This is a goal that is relatable to your career and achievable if you have the paperless option available, making it SMART.
5. Start a New Career
Perhaps you are just entering the workforce. In this instance, you can set a SMART goal for yourself to launch your career. You may give yourself a goal like this: 鈥淚 will land a job as an elementary teacher within three months of graduating with my education degree by applying to my district as soon as I have completed my degree and applying to other nearby districts.鈥�
6. Personal Life Goals
While many聽SMART聽goals聽are focused on your career, you can write a聽SMART聽goal for your personal life. For example, if you want to start exercising more, you can set a聽SMART聽goal like this: 鈥淚 will complete the Couch to 5K training program and run my community鈥檚 charity 5K on October 15.鈥�
This goal is聽SMART聽because it has an attainable, relatable plan, a deadline, and a specific goal you will accomplish.
Another example of a personal life goal may be: 鈥淚 will get up at 6 am five days a week for the next month in order to complete personal meditation time before going to work.鈥�
Again, this is measurable, attainable, and relatable, making it聽SMART.
Get Started Planning SMART Today聽
SMART聽goals聽are going to push you towards greater success if you take the time to write them down and follow the steps necessary to achieve them. They are valuable tools to help keep you focused on both personal and professional聽goals.
Yet, they only work if you start them.
Take some time today to decide what your overarching聽goals聽are. Then, break them down into measurable steps, and create聽SMART聽goals聽to achieve those steps. Soon, you will have a path from where you are today to where you want to be in the next five or ten years, all broken down by individual聽SMART聽goals.
As you plan your聽SMART聽goals聽for your career, consider whether more education will help you achieve them. Unity College, 础尘别谤颈肠补鈥檚 Environmental College, offers a hybrid learning program that enables students to take control of their education by picking a combination of online and in-person classes. This flexible program enables students to pursue education on their terms and pick a combination that best fits their needs and goals. Hybrid learning programs give students the freedom to design their college experience, providing more control over their ability to reach their goals. If you are interested in learning more about the聽hybrid learning degree programs聽offered at Unity College,聽contact us today.
