S.M.A.R.T. GOALS – Deliver purpose, success, and joy

A mywhy.in initiative produced by Charles D. PINTO.

Some of the deliverables you’ll get from reading this short blog are mentioned in the title above, the full list is exhaustive. Let’s start.

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S.M.A.R.T. GOALS  are essentially everything you want to do in life before passing on. They're the stuff people remember you by when you are no longer around. Why are S.M.A.R.T. GOALS  so important? Setting S.M.A.R.T. GOALS  help to guide your life. It is a key tool in The Hope Project, you may want to review the related blog on HOPE (https://bit.ly/HOPEnOw) and FAITH (https://bit.ly/FATHnow ), EMPATHY (https://bit.ly/EMPATHYNow) before you enter the FOURTH  phase, S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T. GOALS .

Time, they say is money. So, it makes more sense taking extra time (costing less money) on planning rather than on the more expensive (closure, heartbreak, unpaid loans) implementation. .M.A.R.T. GOAL  setting will direct you towards the critical path of success fastest, rather than changing the S.M.A.R.T. GOAL strategy repeatedly.

We all struggle with achieving our plans and it’s not because we lack effort. It's because the S.M.A.R.T. GOALS are not structured efficiently. A S.M.A.R.T. GOAL without a plan is simply a wish. Like saying I want to make a lot of money, and don't have a clue how. I recommend trying the S.M.A.R.T. GOAL  process of setting your desired outcomes.

S -SPECIFIC

We all have S.M.A.R.T. GOAL and dreams but most of them are generalised and vague.  So, we don’t really know how to achieve them. Your S.M.A.R.T. GOAL must be clear and well defined. You can only get to where you want by defining how you will get there. I want to be healthier S.M.A.R.T. GOAL is vague instead you could say I will replace aerated drinks with water and will also be going to the gym thrice a week for forty-five minutes. Making it more specific, define the days say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every time at three in the afternoon. Make it as specific as possible so you know exactly what you need to be focussing on.

M - MEASURABLE

Tracking the progress of your S.M.A.R.T. GOAL is part of keeping you motivated. It allows you to set milestones which you can celebrate when you achieve them or re-evaluate when you don’t. If your goal is to lose weight you have to define exactly how much you want to lose. A better S.M.A.R.T. GOAL would be I want to lose six kilos in 30 days. This way you know what to aim for and you can set smaller milestones along the way. This way you break bigger objectives into smaller ones. Such as first two kilos, then another two, and the rest two. It’s the progress that will keep you motivated else you will dampen your ambition.

A – ATTAINABLE

Make sure it’s possible to achieve the S.M.A.R.T. GOALS you set for yourself. Most people set impossible goals. While they push it for a while, they will end up giving up on them. Instead of being impossible your S.M.A.R.T. GOALS should be challenging yet achievable. There is nothing wrong for shooting for the stars as you might end up at the moon. Unless you want to burn out, it is much more efficient to take small steps. For example, you making Rs. 1 crore in a month is impossible if you can’t even pay your bills. A more attainable goal is making an additional Rs. 10,000 by the end of the month. Once you have achieved that you can go ahead and make an additional Rs. 20,000. You surely don’t want to set yourself for failure by going far beyond the bounds of possibility it will only make you miserable.

R -Relevant

Your plans should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. A common issue which is faced is having too many S.M.A.R.T. GOALS at the same time or pursuing the wrong S.M.A.R.T. GOAL S. Unless your S.M.A.R.T. GOAL is relevant to your life plan accomplishing it may not achieve anything. You may want to learn French but barely know anyone who speaks it and you don’ t really need to use it anywhere. So, one stops learning it as it starts taking too much of your time and you don’t get anything out of it. Becoming fluent in French is nice but it is not currently relevant to your overall life plan. So, ask yourself why you want to achieve your S.M.A.R.T. GOAL before you commit to it.

 T – Time Bound

This is one of the most important factors. Your plans must have a deadline before. If you don’t set up a timeline you basically have unlimited time to achieve your S.M.A.R.T. GOALS. When you’re working on a deadline your sense of urgency increases and you’re more likely to achieve your S.M.A.R.T. GOAL. Think of your time in school. You had a whole month to complete a project it yet it was done in the last two days. It’s because the deadline was right around the corner, so you had no choice but to do it. So, whenever you set a S.M.A.R.T. GOAL keep a time limit in mind as it will push you to actually work on it.

Now you know how to set S.M.A.R.T. GOALS. You may think S.M.A.R.T. GOAL setting is a last-minute event. So, you set your S.M.A.R.T. GOAL S and you’re done, Actually, it’s an on-going process, it never ends. Your plans will need evaluation and revision so its important to stay flexible.

Factors affecting S.M.A.R.T. GOAL setting:

Factors affect S.M.A.R.T. GOAL setting such as procrastination, distractions, perfectionism, fear of failure, expectations, lack of focus, understanding, hunger. Two other factors which generally are missed out are listed below.

During my career I have been involved in setting my own S.M.A.R.T. GOAL s and contributing as a team to department/ company S.M.A.R.T. GOALS. I have noticed that the temperament of the goal setter/ contributor plays an important role in the process of goal setting. If a team member has been applauded by the organization or alternately reprimanded due to low performance the goals set will be poles apart. This is not restricted to only office temperaments but extends to personal, social, governmental influences. A supportive family in a friendly neighbourhood under a growth-based government adds optimism on setting much larger goals and the same positive temperament results in undistracted focus on goal achievement.

Some communities believe that high profit goals result in the common man being cheated. Their response to the goal setter can move for objection to sheer insults, even in the presence of the goal setter, who is just doing his job judiciously for his organization. Sometimes these result in strikes and public protests widely covered by electronic and print media. With WhatsApp and other forum, a widespread negative sentiment is created against the goal setter. In such forum messages bringing someone down are much widely spread as compared to achievements. It spreads like wild fire. So, goal setters need to also view their goals through a social lens, to avoid unfounded firefighting instead of focus on goal delivery.

Setting S.M.A.R.T. GOALS will help you achieve your BEST LIFE now.

Remember, you are your primary S.M.A.R.T. GOALS coach and implementor, hence added responsibility and attention to detail is a must, which will surely pay off. Now, this is not just a mind thing, but has to be put down on paper, preferably written, as it adds up on conviction. We will be here to answer email queries at cp@mygi.in. Basic queries are for free. Remember the process has been shared, implementation is your responsibility.

All the very best to you on your well-planned start of the S.M.A.R.T. GOALS Process.