Benjamin Franklin said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Setting goals is a crucial part of anyone’s success in life whether you want to be the next superstar athlete or the scientist who finds the cure for cancer. Getting started and developing a plan can often be the hardest part. Using a SMART Goals worksheet will help you on your way the SMART way.
What is a SMART Goal?
SMART is an acronym. Using each letter of SMART you set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Using each of the SMART goal topics will help you to achieve success. Here’s an example of a goal that is not SMART: I will make a lot of money. If I wanted to turn this goal into a SMART goal I would try the following
Specific
Identifying your objective is one of the most important things to do. It’s kind of like the finish line. There has to be a specific event or occurrence to your goal. You need to narrow down the objective to a single point. Although stating make a lot of money seems pretty specific it really isn’t. How do you know when you’ve achieved a lot?
Measurable
Your goal has to be something you can quantify or measure. Again, using the above example, simply stating as a goal that you are going to have a lot of money doesn’t cut it. How much money is a lot of money? One million? Two million…. Ten million dollars?
Attainable
When you set a goal you have to ask yourself, can I really attain this goal? When you start to set goals, review your skills, ability, and attitude. Are you in the right position to attain this goal or will you need to acquire more skills and knowledge? You may need to set some short term goals to help you attain your long term objective.
Relevant
How well does this goal fit in with the other values of your life. If you have a lifestyle that includes living as a volunteer with the Peace Corps, you’re probably not going to be in a position to make a lot of money. The two seem contradictory. You may have to focus on one before. Make sure the goals you set are relevant to what your values are.
Timely
In order to know if you’ve succeeded, you have to set a limit to the time allowed to achieve the goal. For example, if you have a goal to make a lot of money, say a million dollars you could achieve that by working for an entire lifetime, but what is the point if you are way past the normal retirement age. The timeliness of accomplishing your goals should relate to the specific reason why you have set the goals.
Smart Goals Worksheet
The SMART Goals Worksheet
Putting your goals down in writing is the first step toward achieving your successes. Using the downloadable worksheet you can get started on that path to success. The worksheet will help you identify your goals the SMART way, outlining all of the key points in setting up your goals for success.
The first step in the SMART Goals Worksheet is to write down your basic or proposed goal. This often is the basic end result you wish to achieve.
The second step is to answer specific questions about the goal, like who is involved, where will you be, why you are doing it and other questions. During this step, you will go through all of the SMART goal attributes identifying how you will fit them into your goal.
The final part of the worksheet involves restating your goal to include not only the end result but the specifics on how you will be able to measure your successful completion of the goal. Here you include all of the SMART attributes. Sometimes it gets a little tricky, but when you write out clear concise goals the likelihood of you attaining the goals significantly increases.
You can download your free copy of the SMART Goals Worksheet HERE.
SMART Goals Action Items
1. Download the SMART Goals Worksheet.
2. Clearly define your goals.
3. Verify they are SMART.
4. Get started and succeed.
