With the new year on the horizon, many professionals spend time thinking about the future and setting goals for the upcoming year. While goal-setting is a powerful way to spur growth, you have to approach it correctly if you want the best results.
Poorly crafted goals are often more of a hindrance than a help. Fortunately, by using the SMART goals strategy, you can ensure the targets you pick are setting you up for greater success. Here’s how to get started.
What Are SMART Goals?
SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. Essentially, it’s a framework for creating meaningful, motivating goals.
Specific goals are well-defined, while measurable goals are associated with criteria and metrics that clarify your target and let you monitor your progress. A goal is achievable when it’s possible to attain, while it’s realistic when it’s relevant to your career, within your capabilities, and otherwise appropriate. Time-bound simply means outlining a timeframe for completion, creating a sense of urgency.
By ensuring each of those areas is covered, you increase your odds of hitting the target. It removes any ambiguity from the equation while also ensuring your goal isn’t too lofty, even if it’s challenging.
Setting SMART Goals
Creating SMART goals is reasonably straightforward. Simply work through what each letter stands for, allowing you to refine your initial target until it covers each area.
For example, if you work in sales, perhaps your starting goal is to “increase sales.” Making that specific means drilling down deeper. Is the goal to increase your sales figures or the entire team’s performance? If it’s the former, you may update your goal to say, “increase my individual number of sales.”
At that point, you need to make it measurable. Usually, that means choosing a metric that denotes success. Otherwise, you don’t know when the work is finished, which is often demotivating. Using the sales example, “increase my individual number of sales by 20 percent” is a measurable version of the goal.
When it comes to achievability, you need to determine if hitting the target is reasonable. Consider whether you have the capabilities and resources necessary to get there. If so, it’s achievable. If not, adjust it until it’s something you can accomplish.
A realistic goal is one where you can dedicate the time and resources necessary to hit the target. Additionally, it’s a reflection on whether you’re willing and able to fully commit, ensuring the goal is actually within reach.
For time-bound, you need to select a deadline for hitting the target. With a time constraint, there’s a sense of urgency, which can be motivating as long as the deadline is realistically doable. Continuing with the sales example, the goal may become “increase my individual number of sales by 20 percent by Q3 2023.”
Ultimately, SMART goals remove ambiguity, making your goals clearer. As a result, you’re more likely to attain them, making them more effective at pushing your career forward. If you’d like to learn more, The Squires Group wants to hear from you. Contact us today.
