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You may have a fuzzy idea of what you want to do.
Maybe you even went ahead and wrote a goal down . . .
or attempted to make a vision board.
Now you want to put your plan into ACTION.
The best way to focus on accomplishing a goal is to get very SPECIFIC.
According to an article by Harvard Business School, studies show that detailed planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.
I think Mark Twain said it best. . .
The secret to getting ahead is getting started.
Click to tweet this quote here.
Goal Setting: Geek Out and Get Going
Here’s the truth:
If you want to get real about saving for the holidays without going into debt, putting away money for your child, or any kind of goal, you NEED a way to make a plan, take action on it, and monitor your progress.
Since everyone has their own unique ideas about what they want to do, writing down a goal with pencil and paper or on a document stored digitally is the most cost-effective solution for doing that. Be sure your goal is specific. I found a video that is well put together and walks you through the steps of how to set a S.M.A.R.T. goal.
Writing S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Say you have a general idea about what you want to do. Let’s say you foresee yourself being rich.
So you write down, ” I want to be rich.”
Is this really specific? Uh. . .No!
Okay, so you go back, make yourself an outline, and ask yourself the 5 W questions. See picture below.
Use the notes you took from the outline to make your goal. See example below. The words in yellow are from the outline.
I made a quick template so you can plug in your own answers below. So have at it.
If you’d like a more thorough explanation, see this video below. I used the sample goal from the video to give you an overview of how to set a S.M.A.R.T. goal. It explains each step and walks you through how to formulate your own goal. It’s a nice hand holding session if you need it explained or just want to make sure you do it right. I recommend taking a look. It’s only about 7 minutes long.
Ready, set, GOAL!
If you made it this far, you may also like Goal Setting the Right Way Part II
If you thought this post was SUPER helpful, share it with everyone on social media. It’s the right thing to do.
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Great post (and great job making SMART goals not sound so boring, haha). The first time that I was introduced to smart goals was working at my aerospace job. Unfortunately the goals weren’t as nice as the 5 million dollar goal that you use in your post, they were more like “write 3 security plans for the year” So I always had a bad taste in my mouth with SMART goals.
But you are right – they totally work and help to keep you motivated. Especially if it’s a stretch goal that challenges you. Your template is a big help too. Makes it easy to be specific – which is where the power lies. 🙂
Great post. Off to schedule a tweet to share it ;).
Dean
Great explanation on SMART goal setting.
You may want to check out GoalsOnTrack, a very nicely built web app designed for tracking goals, habits, and todo lists, and supports time tracking too. It’s clear, focused, easy to navigate, and most of all, really works!
I will do that. Thanks for telling me about it.
It’s funny how we feel about attaining goals when they are for work versus our personal life. It can be dreadful if you HAVE to do them. I was a classroom teacher so I hear ya.
I’m glad you liked the template. Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words. It’s nice to brainstorm then fill it in to a little formula.
I’m glad you made it a goal to schedule it. ; )