Hello everyone,
I am so excited to write this new article. The feedback I’ve received from you guys makes me want to write on this topic even more. I just wish you would leave your comments on the blog instead of calling or emailing me. :-)
Ok the topic I want to cover this week is "S.M.A.R.T. goals"
So what is a SMART goal? The acronym SMART stands for
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
Lets look at each component individually.
Specific
The more specific you are when setting a goal, the greater your chance of accomplishing it will be. For a goal to be specific, it needs to answer the 5 W questions. (Who, What, Where, When & Why).
Example
General goal: To loose weight.
Specific goal: I, Jephtée Elysée, will loose 50 lbs by December 2008 so that I can attain my ideal weight range.
Measurable
You should have concrete criteria for measuring your progress. If you can’t measure it, you will never know if you are on the right track or not.
Lets take the same example as before.
If you have set up the general goal and realize that you have been loosing an average of 2 lbs per month, wouldn’t you be happy? Well you definitely should because you goal was to lose weight and you are loosing some.
However, if you had a specific goal with a specific target of loosing 50lbs over a 12months period, you should be grateful for loosing 2 lbs per month but not satisfy. Why? Because 50 lbs over 12 months = 4.1 lbs per month. That specific measurement should tell you its time to double your effort.
Attainable
Ok that is a big one… this is THE reason why most people give up on their goals. Once you have identified goals that are important to you, you will start figuring ways of achieving them. However if a goal is so far out of your reach and your mind feels like no matter what it does, its still anywhere close to that goal… it will give up on it.
In our previous example: is 50 lbs over 12 months an attainable goal?
Realistic
A goal that is realistic to someone will not be to another. Only you can decide if your goal is realistic or not. An indication: if every time you think of your goal, you have that discomfort feeling… something might be wrong.
Timely
Set a timeframe for the achievement of your goal. In the example, the timeframe is 12months. Deadline is December 2008.
Remember: "Life is exactly what you make it, so dare to make yours even more magnificent!"
Wishing you a great week,
Jephtée E.
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7 comments:
Wonderful article, but i believe that life is not exactly what you make it but what you make of it. Basically we are presented with various opportunities and its up to us to take advantage of these opportunities, and thats where goal setting comes in. However the opportunities in life are not the same of each and every one of us though i believe that we all are given opportunities.
Alex
Hey Alex,
I do believe that life is what we make it.
You even highlight that point in your comment.
From the day we are born till the day we pass away, we are presented with opportunities and WE chose which ones we will pursue.
This is how you explain, 2 people with the same background, opportunities end up in 2 completely different paths… because each choice lead us to in a different path.
However, I kind of agree that the opportunities are not the same for everyone. Ex.: Someone who is born in North America does not seems to have the same opportunities as one in most African or Caribbean countries. True but its not that simple…
I say, “seems” because if the opportunity exist it means that it exist. However it may be more easily attainable for one, then the other.
As I am writing this article, I remember reading about the story of a man born in a small village in an African country. He had never been out of his village… not country, but never out of his village. One day, an American doctor came to his village… to make the story short, he told his father he wants to be a doctor. There is no such thing in his village… so imagine how crazy that might seems. To anyone this is not an attainable goal. However, the article I was reading was about that same man studying in one of the most prestigious medicine school in USA. I have to find this article and share it with you guys.
I am a strong believer of wherever you were born or from whatever parents; one can achieve greater things then what seems like his only opportunities at first.
And if we look around us, we have too many stories to prove it. But again it is a matter of choice. There are a few people who are willing and driven enough to say: “I refuse the opportunities that are laid before me. I want more and I will pursue the ones that may seem out of my reach.”
Et voilà!
I can’t believe you made me write another article today… lol I was so busy but couldn’t help but taking the bait.
Ok now really, I would like to hear from the others on that topic.
About the loosing 50 lbs by december 2009, its just an example to illustrate the difference between general goal vs. specific goal.
If I were to lose 50 lbs... I would be bones only. I don't think my BF would be to happy. :-)
Hi Jephtee
I gather that you are not a believer in 'life happens to us' theory, and i believe that its the way to go, the attitude to have if one really wants to succeed in life. In the absence of a perfect world, which is the reality that we live in, I guess some people needs assistance in helping them to become aware of opportunities that exist and how they can take advantage of it. Maybe ignorance is the biggest block in some cases.
Hi Jephtee,
this stuff makes goal setting very clear.
thank you very much.
Roxanne
Hey Jephtee,
Nice blogg.
It is well written.
Keep up the good work!!!
Question what are you up to these days??
Thanks Flo!
What am I up to these days? Great question.
Way more then I can handle. lol
To summarize:
- I work full time
- Work part time on my consulting business
- Volunteer: give back to the community
- Try to enjoy life with friends and family.
That's pretty much it...
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