The term SMART goals is an acronym and stands for
Its criteria are commonly attributed to Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives concept. the first known use of the term was in the Nov 1981 issue of Management review by Dr. George T Doran.
You can check out this video where Dr. Doran explains this approach in his own words.
Interestingly, Dr. Doran uses the term Assignable rather than achievable in the acronym (which is what I've seen used all too often and I think that's not as good as an assignable goal when you have a business)
Professor Robert Rubin later expanded on this and created the acronym SMARTER the last two letters in the acronym standing for Evaluated and Reviewed.
Achieving your goals is more important than setting them, and that's where SMART goals come in.
Your goals need to be aligned with your business' strategic objectives and your vision.
Setting specific goals helps you get clarity which drives motivation. Getting clear on the context of the goal often helps to increase your understanding of the goal and that leads to clarity and specificity.
Try asking yourself the questions that start with the 5 Ws when setting your goal:
By having clarity around how you're going to measure your success you can track your progress which will help you stay motivated.
Tracking your progress to your goal helps you meet deadlines and feel the excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal.
Setting unrealistic goals is demotivating. You need to ensure that your goal is realistic and attainable — ideally within the next 90 days.
Your goal shouldn't be super easy to attain. It should stretch your abilities but not be completely out of reach. Here are some useful questions to ask to help you set an achievable goal include:
You should set goals that are relevant to you and your business. This means they should align with your overall business objectives and your vision. They should also not be in conflict with your other goals.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to test for relevance:
Without a clear target date, you won't have a sense of urgency which means you won't have agency.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
Download the worksheet and get your SMART goals down. Do it now.
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