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by Merlyn Gabriel Miller

What are SMART goals, and how will they help you succeed?

The acronym SMART stands for 5 dimensions of goal setting: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

If you make your goals SMART goals, you will have a better chance of achieving them. Click To Tweet

Read on to find out why.

S – Specific

The more specific your goal, the easier to achieve it. Because if you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how can you measure your progress? Click To Tweet

This is why so many fail to reach their goals. They only have a vague idea of what they want. 

If you want to get in shape, what does that mean to you? 

M – Measurable

​Running 10 km in 1 hour?
Being able to bench press 50 kg?
Going up the stairs without being short of breath?

Make it specific.

How far away from your goal are you?

How do you know if you are well on the way, or if you are lagging behind?
Do you just keep on going, or do you need to change something?

If you do not have a clear goal there is no way for you to measure your progress. You could be on route to failure without knowing it. Or, you could be doing great, but still feel like you have failed.

Maybe you think this M should stand for motivation instead, but how do you stay motivated?

What keeps you going and feeling motivated is seeing the results of your efforts, being able to measure how far you have come. Click To Tweet

A – Attainable

Is it possible to achieve your goal?
Have you done it before, or know of others who have?

If the answer is YES to either of these questions, then you can be sure that it is attainable. Even if the answer is NO, do not let that stop you. Someone always has to be the first. It might as well be you.

R – Realistic

Say your goal is to run 10 km in 15 minutes.

Technically it is attainable, as human top speed is 45 km/h, which means you could finish in 13 minutes and 20 seconds.

But, attainable is not the same as realistic.

The average runner will finish a 10 km course in 1 hour, not 15 minutes. And the current world record for this distance is 26 minutes and 44 seconds. So, unless you are Superman, you might want to rethink your goal.  

T – Timely

Break your main goal into smaller goals, each with its own time frame. This way they become more manageable, and even the big hairy ones will seem easy. Click To Tweet

Say you want a new laptop that costs €999, but you don’t have the money right now. How long will it take for you to save this amount? A week, a month, a year?

If you want it in 3 months, you will have to save €333 per month.
3 months is 12 weeks, which makes €83,25 per week.

If after 6 weeks you have only saved €40, you are way off course. Either adjust the time frame, or find another way to save more money. If you are unable to save more with your current income, look at ways to earn more money.

So, if we put this all together, how would a SMART goal look?

Goal: Write a 200 page book

Is this a SMART goal?

No, not yet. It is measurable (200 pages), but it is neither specific nor timely. So let’s fix it.

“Write a 200 page book about weight loss in 10 weeks” is better.
Now its both specific and timely. 

But is it attainable?

200 pages in 10 weeks is 20 pages per week. Or, less than 3 pages per day.
If we assume that one page is 500 words, that is 1,500 words per day.

The average person types 40 words every minute, which means that typing 1,500 words would only take 37,5 minutes.

Of course, there is more to writing than just typing the words. Research, planning the outline and editing takes time as well, so you may have to schedule for 3 hours of writing a day. 

This goal is clearly attainable, but is it realistic?

If you can dedicate yourself to only writing, absolutely.
If you have a full time job, working 8 hours a day? Still not a problem.

Full time job and studies?
Now you are stretching yourself a bit thin. You might want to rethink your deadline.
Full time job, studies and kids?
Maybe not in 10 weeks. Don’t forget you have to sleep as well.

Either rethink your timeline or get help with the kids, take time off work or plan your writing to coincide with your vacation time.  

Takeaway

The next time you set your goals, remember to make them SMART goals. Take the time to think things through. Like the specifics of what you want, how to measure your progress and stay motivated, if the goal is attainable or realistic, and how long it will take to reach it.

Now that you know how to set a SMART goal, you have a much better chance at succeeding in your dreams.