The Meaning of SMART Goal Setting

Goal setting is one of the things that successful individuals go through regularly. Setting goals will help them determine what they need to achieve and the necessary steps they need to take to complete them.

If you are planning to set your goals soon, you should do it with the SMART goal setting method so that you will be able to be effective in doing it.

The SMART method of setting your goals is a way to make it simpler for you to do. If you are wondering what this method is all about, SMART means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

Each letter found in the word SMART represents an essential factor or element you need to consider when setting your goals. When you do that, you will be able to set your life goals properly.

Specific – This means that your goals should not be vague or too general. For instance, if you want to be promoted in your job, you want to make it more specific by saying that you want to become a supervisor, manager, or senior manager. When you set specific goals, you will be able to determine the steps that need to be taken since the direction you need to go to would become more apparent.

Measurable – Setting measurable goals can help you see your progress in attaining them. For instance, to become a supervisor, you will be able to monitor your progress by carefully evaluating yourself, such as your skills acquired, the kind of tenure you have in the company, and such to achieve supervisory level.

Attainable – You should not set goals that you know it is not possible for you to achieve. For example, suppose you recently were hired by a particular company. In that case, it is not suitable for you to set your goal of becoming a CEO since there are many promotions that you will need to go through before achieving that. You can put that as your long-term goal and the smaller promotions as your short-term ones.