S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting
by Andrew Wood
A Lesson From Wonderland - Having a lovely and bright young daughter, I just began to re-read some of the children’s classics I enjoyed in my childhood.
Although Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, Alice in Wonderland, is frequently (and mistakenly) considered to be for children only, its pages contain many basic lessons in life.
Take, for example, this wonderful little excerpt...
"Is this the right way?" said Alice to the Cheshire cat.
"That depends a lot on where you want to go," said the cat.
"I don’t know where I’m going," said Alice...
"Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go," said the cat.
How many of us have found ourselves in this situation -- walking, talking, working, and getting by just fine without ever really knowing where we are going?
That’s exactly how life is for the 95% of people who don't
set S.M.A.R.T. goals!
S.M.A.R.T. Goal-Setting
Unlike dreams, goals must adhere to strict rules. In order
to be smart goals, they must be...
Specific
Motivational
Attainable
Relevant
Trackable
Using The S.M.A.R.T. Goals System - Goals must be Specific in order to be of any use -- you can’t just say you want things to be better. "Better" is not specific!
Goals must be Motivational. They must have the emotional power to excite you enough to expend the time and effort necessary to achieve them.
Goals can be ambitious, but they must be grounded in reality.
They must be Attainable. Setting a goal like, "Some day, somehow, I want to be president of a major corporation and very, very rich," does not meet the requirements. A goal that says, "I want to make $100,000 this year by selling one million dollars worth of widgets," is Specific, Motivational, and Attainable.
Intermediate goals must be Relevant to your ultimate goal. For example, "I want to sell a million widgets this year, be the top salesman in the company next year, and be Vice President of Sales two years from today."
Your goals must be Trackable. You must be able to measure progress as you go along. If your goals are not trackable, you don’t know where you stand on the road to your goal.
Now do this exercise.( I mean it. Really do it!)
1. Write down how much money you want to make in the next year, starting today. $____________________
2. Divide that figure by twelve. That’s how much you have to make each month. $____________________
3. Divide that figure by four. That’s roughly how much you have to make each week. $____________________
4. Divide that figure by five. That’s how much you have to make each day. $____________________
5. Divide that figure by eight. That’s how much you have to make each hour to achieve your annual income. $____________________
Example:
This year:$ 120,000
This month:$ 10,000
This week:$ 2,500
Today:$ 500
This hour:$ 50
Now, what steps can you take to help achieve that hourly goal now, today?
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Andrew Wood, is recognized worldwide as a business, marketing, leadership, and personal development expert. To learn more about Andrew click here.
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