S.M.A.R.T. Goals

"Let's face it, most of us struggle at goal setting.

Let's learn to break free from this cycle."

We are here to help you break free from this cycle and show you how to set successful goals and achieve them.

Most people do not properly identify the reason they aren't meeting their goals and blame themselves for their lack of goal execution.

Rule #1: Don't blame yourself.
It's (most likely) not your fault. Don't get me wrong, executing your goals is important, but the foundation is even more important.

"Even a tower a hundred yards tall has still its foundations on the ground." – Chinese Proverb

Rule #2: Listen to (our) Chinese proverbs.
No matter how big or small our goals may be, we need to make sure they're smart. Well, S.M.A.R.T.

S: Specific – None of that "I want to be a better employee" or "I want to exercise" generic-ism.
You want to be a better employee? In what way?
Try, "I want to turn in my reports, on-time."
You want to exercise? Exercise what?
Try, "I want to run a marathon."

M: Measurable – Now that we have specific goals, we need to make sure we can measure our progress and success.
For our first example, we'd take "I want to turn in my reports on-time" and add the phrase "98% of the time" to the end of it.

In the next example, we'd take "I want to run a marathon" and add the phrase "in under four and a half hours" to the end of it.

A: Achievable – We need to find the sweet spot between goals that are too easy and goals that are too hard.

Goals that are too easy don't challenge you. A good rule of thumb – if your goal doesn't require at least three steps to achieve, it's too easy.

If you set a goal to do 50 push-ups, and you did 49 today, the only step is to do one more push-up. Too easy.

On the flip side, you don't want to have a goal that's too hard.

There are a few results that come from setting goals that are too difficult:
1. You get frustrated because you're making so little progress.
2. You lose interest in the goal because it seems so far away.
3. You just flat out give up because it seems like such a huge task.

This why we have to make sure our goals are achievable.

Find a good middle ground — a goal that is challenging, but doesn't seem unreachable.

For example, don't set a goal to run a marathon by September 1st if it's the middle of August and you can barely run a half marathon (even though that's still impressive).

R: Relevant – Set goals that you actually want to accomplish.
Most of us can remember a time in grade school when we received an assignment we had no interest in. It wasn't relevant to us. As a result, we didn't take it seriously and most likely didn't do as well on it as we could have.

If you set goals that are relevant to your interests, you'll be more likely to follow-through and achieve them.

T: Time-oriented – Give yourself a deadline that you can stick to.

Procrastination is toxic. Set a date and make incremental progress until you've achieved your goal.

Rule #3: Write it down.
THIS IS IMPORTANT. Do NOT take this rule lightly.

If you follow these steps in your goal setting, you will find success.

Watch this video to see How Important to Write your Goals.