How to Write Goals You Can Accomplish
Goal writing does not have to be tedious or boring. Goal writing can be fun and invigorating. Goal writing should be seen as the route to your successful self. You want to write goals you can accomplish each time you focus on something. The difficult part of goal writing occurs when we don’t know how to write goals effectively and then become frustrated because we don’t reach our goals.
Take the challenge out of goal writing using this framework.
Where goal writing goes wrong
No specific criteria-
You can not achieve a goal if you do not know what the goal actually is. This sounds easy, but many of us do this every day. We say, “I am going to have a good day today.” That sounds like an excellent outcome for your day- but what would make it good? How would you know if you actually had a good day?
No deadline-
You can not achieve a goal if you do not have a date it should be completed. With no end date, you have no motivation to take steps to completion. With a deadline, you have to get to it! Procrastination is our enemy to goal achievement. Deadlines place some pressure on us to keep to a schedule and plan.
No personal investment-
Why is the goal important to YOU? The goals you set need to be relevant to what you want to accomplish. If you are modeling your goals after someone else’s social media, they are not for you! Decide what you want at this stage in your life and move forward from there.
How to improve your goal writing
- Be specific- What is it you want to accomplish? What do you want to achieve? How do you define success?
- Give yourself a deadline- How soon do you want to complete this? When do you need to have it done? How soon does this need to happen before you can move on to your next goal?
- Focus on you and your motivation- What makes you happy? What can get you to try hard even when you are not feeling your best? Who are you setting an example for in your life?
SMART Goals
- Specific- What do you want to achieve?
- Measurable- How will you measure success of this goal?
- Attainable- Do you have the skills to reach this goal? Can you learn the skills to reach this goal?
- Relevant- Is this something you are interested in? Does it motivate you?
- Time-based- When is the deadline to have this goal completed?
SMART Goal Examples
- I will write 3 blog posts in 14 days in order to post three times in the next month.
- I will take 1 trip by August with my family for at least 3 days long to the beach.
- I will go to bed by 10:00pm 3 days a week to have more energy to complete tasks throughout the day.
You should be able to pick out all the components of a SMART Goal in the 3 goal examples above.
“Think about your goals at every opportunity throughout the day.”
Brian Tracy
| Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory | Discusses another goal setting format using clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, task complexity building upon SMART goals | |
| SMART Goals How to Make Your Goals Achievable | “SMART is a well-established tool that you can use to plan and achieve your goals. While there are a number of interpretations of the acronym’s meaning, the most common one is that goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. When you use SMART, you can create clear, attainable and meaningful goals, and develop the motivation, action plan, and support needed to achieve them.” | |
| How to Use SMART Goals: Achieve More in Less Time | Free course on using SMART format to write goals | |
| How to write SMART goals | Article with free template for SMART goal writing | |
| The Essential Guide to Writing SMART Goals | Examples on how to write SMART goals |
Share in the comments a SMART Goal you will be working on in the upcoming month. Let’s hold each other accountable so we can meet our goals! We can do it!
Find Your Flourish! exists to support women who want to create an optimal life for themselves and their family by finding a balance between professional development and home life- allowing them to excel in both areas without compromising one over the other.
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A person who can assist you with goal writing is a mentor. If you don’t already have a mentor, check out this post here for 7 reasons why you should have one in your life.
Be you, be focused, be well! Find Your Flourish! |Shanna|
Check out more from Find Your Flourish! here:
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- 5 Ways to Implement Carlson’s Law to Increase Your Success
- Mastering Midlife: Page 2
- Mastering Midlife: Page 1
- New Quarter; Find out what’s new
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Goal setting is so important. I’m adding SMART goal setting to my to-do list this next week. Thanks for posting!
Hi, Jericka- Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Let me know how SMART goals go for you this week. The format really helps with maintaining focus and providing clear guidelines for goal writing. |Shanna|