Setting SMART Goals

A goal should provide guidance and direction.  Use the S.M.A.R.T. criteria to help put more detail into your goal. Spending some time creating effective goals will be a huge help later on.

→Specific: The more detail you put into defining a goal, the more clear the picture will be. Detailed plans increase motivation and bring focus to your dreams.

• You must state your goal as specifically as possible.
• What are the ten things you most enjoy doing?
• Have your goal be like an instruction telling you what to do.
• Set the goal "I'm going to buy a house someday."
• Unspecific goal: "I'm going to buy a house someday."  When is someday?  Since someday is undefined, it becomes easy to continue to put it off until tomorrow.
• Specific goal: "I will buy a house five years from today (03/11/10)."  This goal is more definitive and gives you something to really look forward to.  It also sets a deadline.
• The more clearly you define your goals, the easier it will be to realize your achievement.

• You need to have a way to measure progress.
• Produce evidence for your progress.

• Goals must be realistically attainable.
• The goal should be inspiring enough that it motivates you to success.

R - Realistic:

• Goals should be ambitious, but not impossible.
• Break large goals into smaller goals.
• Create a plan to do all the steps you need.

T – Time Based :

• When will you finish your goal?

→Write them down:

I will [your goal here] by [how you will do the goal]. I will know I am making progress because [how you will measure the goal] [time goes here].

Now evaluate your goal – is it Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based?

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