News

Have you ever made a new year’s resolution that has been completely forgotten about by February?

Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.

Thankfully there is a simple five-part framework that provides you with a clear roadmap to achieving your goals. SMART goals can be used by businesses or individuals and has been shown to increase your likelihood of success.

To increase your chances of success your goals should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time Bound

Ok, so we know what SMART goals are, but why should we bother using this framework to build your goals? There are many benefits of setting SMART goals such as:

• Helping you stay on schedule and achieve your goals on time.
• Providing structure to help you stay focused on the end result.
• Providing direction for your focus and reduces wasted time and resources.
• Encouraging you to get out of your comfort zone and grow as a person or business.

Specific

Make sure your goals clearly identify what you want to achieve. This will make it easier to identify the steps needed to achieve your goal. Ensuring your goals are specific will help you direct your focus in the right direction and potentially save time and resources in the process.

When setting goals make sure to ask yourself the 5 “W” questions:

• Who is involved in achieving your goal? Do you need to support of others?
• What resources do you need?
• Where do you want to achieve your goal? (ie: school, personal, business or career)
• When do you want to achieve your goal?
• Why do you want to achieve your goal?

Measurable

When working towards our goals, it’s important that we are able to track our progress; making it easier to stay motivated and to know if your current strategy is working or if you need to try tackling it from a new angle.

When setting your goal, make sure to ask yourself the following questions:

• What are the milestones to achieving your goal?
• Did you use more or less resources or time than you expected?

Attainable

Make sure your goal is something that you can reasonably achieve. This will help to keep you focused and motivated.

When setting your goal, ask yourself the following questions:

• What steps do you need to take to achieve your goal?
• Are there any internal or external restraints that could prevent you from achieving your goal?
• Can these restraints be overcome, if so; what do you need to do to overcome them?
• Is this the right time do pursue this goal, could social and economic factors have a positive or negative impact?

It’s important to remember that relying too much on external factors could make it harder to achieve your goal. Consider steps that you can take to mitigate the risk of disruption that is out with your control.

Relevant

Your goal should align with you or your business’s long-term aims and objectives otherwise pursuing this goal could be a waste of both time and resources.

When setting your goal, make sure to ask yourself the following questions:

• Why is this goal important to you?
• Does this goal align with you or your business’s aims and objectives?
• How will achieving this goal make you feel?
• What are the benefits of achieving this goal?

Time Bound

Give yourself a reasonable and realistic dateline in which to achieve your goal. This will help improve motivation and build the necessary steps into your normal schedule, increasing your chances of success.

When setting your goal ask yourself the following questions:

• Why is this deadline important?
• How much time can you dedicate to working towards your goal?
• How much time is required to achieve your goal?
• Are there any internal or external factors that could impact the deadline of your goal?
• How can tasks be broken down to help you stay on track without getting overwhelmed?

Conclusion

When creating your SMART goals, consider utilising goal tracking apps, vision boards of templates to help you monitor your progress and keep your focus in the right direction.

Remember it’s ok if your goal changes over time due to both internal and external factors. Don’t allow yourself to be restricted by your goal.