5 Techniques to Achieve your Goals the SMART Way

Everyone has goals in life, but often times they don’t know how to achieve these goals. One of the first things when looking at goals is to be sure they fall under the SMART rule – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound. Goals that are too general, have no specific time limit, or unattainable are just not goals you will achieve succesfully. First, put each of your goals into those categories.

Successful people use this technique to achieve their goals and stay on track. This is probably intuitive to most of you. But, writing them down and placing them in these categories may be new concept. Think about this as you begin your goal-setting.

It is good to think about your long-term goals and the pie in the sky. Follow those dreams, but start with short-term goals or you will be so overwhelmed. For example, if you want to someday run your own business, you have to break it down into smaller segments: 5 years, 1 year, 90 days, monthly, weekly, and even daily.

How will you accomplish each of these short-term goals to get to the medium-term goals, which eventually will lead to the long-term goal? Bite size pieces are easier to deal with and more manageable than large chunks!

Eventually, you will be on the path to reach those long-term goals, and you will have a sense of accomplishment along the way. These little rewards along the way will help you stay motivated on your road to success.

The reason many people fail to achieve their goals is simply because they've set their long-term goals first, before even examining short-term goals effectively. I once read that we tend to overestimate what we can do in a small time, and we underestimate what we can do in a lifetime.

Think big, but plan small.

Sometimes if you tell other people your goals, it makes you feel even more obligated to achieve them. It is a sense of pride and following through. If you become accountable to others, it may help you stay on track. I once heard of a study in which people who told others about their fitness goals were more likely to stay on track.

Telling people also provides support so you are not alone in your journey. If someone asks me if I am obtaining my goals and am able to share my story, it helps me refocus knowing I have someone else to lean on for support.

This is a critical technique and one I often fail at.  But, I have discovered that when I right down my goals, I am not only accountable, but I can keep track of what my goals are.  Over time, when you start checking off these goals, you will feel a sense of accomplishment.

If you have a long list of goals, you may not remember all of them.  When you write things down, your mind has a funny way of making it more memorable.

In addition, by writing them down, you will able to apply the SMART rule and be more likely to succeed.

Review these goals on a regular basis to encourage and motivate you. You may have to readjust from time to time, but you will have a record of the things you have already done and ones that have fallen off the plate.

Being accountable for your goals will help keep you on track.  Having them written down, you will have them to refer back to.  Always keep the end goal in mind so you don’t get bogged down with small obstacles. Many times people give up on their big dreams because of small setbacks.  This will happen.

If you use weight loss for example, don’t let one day of binging prevent you from trying to reach your long-term goal.  Stay on track, re-focus, and begin again.

Don’t abandon the goal and try not to get discouraged when you run into obstacles.  Part of these failures will ultimately lead to success.  Learning from your mistakes is the most powerful lessons you will have in your arsenal.

This ties in with the last technique.  Don’t let setbacks prevent you from getting back in the race to reach the finish line.  You may have to change your course, but it doesn’t mean you cannot still get there. 

I have been tempted to give up on my goals because the plan had changed.  So instead of being flexible and looking at a new set of goals, I gave up.  You have to be flexible in life.  Life, believe it or not, rarely goes as planned.  If you gave up every time you are derailed, you would not get very far.  Goals are guidelines, not hard set rules.  They give you direction, but life often produces road blocks.  Go around, don’t just stop moving!

While having goals certainly give our lives a sense of direction, they also provide the motivation to get us through the rough patches.  When you are working 18 hours a day to get your business going without any profit to show for it, knowing that you will have built a successful business in the long-term gives you direction and motivation.

Goals also give you a measurable sense of accomplishment. Every time you achieve a goal, you are taking one more step towards your long-term goals.  This can give you a boost of energy and momentum to push ahead.  You can check it off the list and know you have accomplished a task that is putting your closing to your goal.

Now go ahead and set your SMART goals!