Closing the 18-Inch Gap Podcast-EP025: How To Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

How To Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Everybody has goals. Well, everybody should have some. But are they smart goals? S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym I will be going into today that breaks down how goals should be structured. It's a framework I learned many years ago and I alluded to in the last podcast episode, and I want to bring it to you today.

Points to covered:

S: specific. Goal needs to be specific to begin with. You can hit a moving target. You must know what you're aiming for. If you don't know where you're going, then you certainly will get somewhere it just might not be where you intended to get.

M: measurable. How will you measure your progress? Measurable goals can be tracked, allowing you to see your progress. An answer to the questions of how much or how many. It also tells you when your goal is complete. This is where it's important to measure in small increments.

A: actionable. Are you able to take action to achieve your goal? Actionable goals ensure the steps to get there are within your control. I think we can allude to the previous point with M in this point as well. The key here is to have these actions within your control. In this goes even further back to the very first point of speaking specific. This is where your goal will show itself if it's too big or too small.

R: realistic. Avoid overwhelming, unnecessary, stress and frustration by making the goal realistic. As you can see, this ties to the previous points and builds up as you go along. Being realistic will help you stay focused on what's important to prevent distractions by less critical tasks to take you away from your goals.

T: time bound. In other words, put a deadline on it. This is where Parkinson's law is so crucial. Parkinson's law states that the idea that work will expand to fill the time allotted for completion is true to his every word.

Basically that means that whatever time you give yourself to do something is how long it will take. If you don't set a deadline, you will never get it finished.

Books mentioned:

Closing the 18-Inch Gap: Closingthe18inchgap.com

Clockwork- Mike Michalowicz: https://shorturl.at/wSF78

Everything is Figureoutable- Marie Forleo: https://shorturl.at/khGwV

I want to see you succeed. And I know you want to succeed as well. Did any of these points resonate with you today? Do you want to explore deeper how I can help you with the topic of today? If so, reach out to me and let me know.

I always offer a free, complementary, no commitment, no credit card needed, no endless follow-ups taking up your time, coaching session where we can explore how I can help you and you can see coaching action for yourself.

Simply send me an email to edwin@edwinsoler.com, and let me know what your question is and how we can connect. Don't hesitate, reach out to me right away. I'll be waiting for you.