SMART Goal setting

Have you ever set some goals and found that you cannot achieve them? Here are the reasons why people fail to achieve their goals and how to set SMART goals instead.

Often we want to have something that seems to be difficult to achieve. The question is do we want to achieve certain goals because of our own wishes or because others want us to? It is important that our mind and emotions are in tune with the goals we are setting. If we are not passionate about achieving certain goals we will most probably not achieve them.

Goal setting must be SMART. This means the goals must be:

S- Sustainable

Create a specific plan of how you can achieve your goal. It is too vague to say “I want to be happy”. Create a plan how exactly you want to achieve this.

M- Meaningful

The goal must be meaningful to YOU and you must really want it.

A- Attainable

You must be able to reach your goal. Start with small steps and consider all the negatives and positives. Ask yourself what might be in your way and try to find a way around any obstacles.

R- Realistic

Your goals must be realistic. Many people set unrealistic goals, e.g. loosing 20kg in the next 3 weeks. Unrealistic goals cannot be achieved and make you feel that you have no will power and that you have failed.

T- Time limit

You must set time limits for your goals. If you do not have a time limit, you can forget about your goals and don’t feel the necessity to work on them every day.

Now that you know how to set your goals it is important to write them down. Goals that are written down have more meaning.

Make sure that you write down short term and long term goals. The short term goals can be goals for the next few weeks and months and the long term goals can be goals for the next three years. Those goals need to be broken down into smaller milestones so that you can measure if you are still on track. Don’t be too rigid, you can make changes if necessary.

Don’t write down too many goals, otherwise you might feel overwhelmed.

Write your goals down in form of a list and look which goals are most important and which ones can be achieved a bit later. Remember, nothing is cast in stone and you can make changes if necessary.

Prioritizing your goals helps to start with the goal you feel most passionate about and will make you work harder to achieve it. Always try to understand the reason why you want to achieve a certain goal. This will make you feel more positive about it.

Hang your goals up where you can see them. Visualize yourself having achieved what you wanted to and be persistent because motivation alone is not always enough. You need to tick off each milestone you have achieved every day or week. This is an amazing feeling; celebrate all your achievements- no matter how small they are! You will be astonished how quickly you can make your goals become reality.