Tips for Writing Smart Goals

Writing smart goals is as important as setting goals. Until you write your goals on paper, they are only dreams and wishes. You won't commit and do all you can and the best you can if you only wish for something.

When you write your goal, you imprint it on your mind. And when you look at your written goal daily, it will strengthen your desire to reach it. It motivates you because it reminds you of the reasons why you want to achieve it.

But why do you and most people hesitate? Check it out yourself and ask around and you will find that the many people don't think that goal setting is important. Is writing smart goals a difficult task? Why do people prefer to sit and watch television rather than putting aside the time to write down what they want to have, do and become.

One of the reasons for not writing goals is because it takes a lot of thinking. It's not just about listing what you want but you must assign a deadline to reach each goal, think of the reasons and plan the action steps.

Another reason why people shy away from writing smart goals is because they don't want things bad enough. And they don't believe in themselves. They are afraid that they won't be able to achieve the things they want. They also know that once they have written their goals, they have to commit. And it means that they have to put in lots of work, to stay focused and to impose the disciplines. So to avoid the discomfort, they don't go through the goal setting exercise.

If you want to attain a different level of achievement in life, you must take your life seriously. Can you imagine what you would achieve in 365 days by planning your life on paper?

Steps for Writing Smart Goals

Here is an example of a written goal that applies the Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time specific or SMART formula.

Get several pieces of paper and a pen ready to write and answer these questions.

What is your dream?

To enable you to answer this question, recall what your life was like 5 years ago and what it is like now. Then picture what you want to achieve by the end of 12 months starting today? Describe your dream in detail. Write the sentences using positive words and language. Once you've done that, summarize it in one phrase. This sentence is now your written goal.

Here are a few questions that may help trigger your thoughts for writing smart goals.

1. What do I want to have?
   
   
2. What do I want to learn?
   
   
3. Where do I want to go?
   
   
4. What do I want to become?
   
   
5. What do I want to experience?
   
   
6. Who do I want to meet?

Why do I want these things?

What is the desired outcome? When answering this question, think of how bad you want it. Imagine what you will feel and how it will affect you and your life.

Is my goal attainable? Is it realistic?

Think of your present situation, strengths and skills and answer these question.

1. Do I have the knowledge, skill, time and energy?
   
   
2. What knowledge and skills do I need?
   
   
3. Where can I get them?
   
   
4. Who can help me?
   
   
5. What are the possible obstacles that I may face?
   
   
6. What am I willing to do to achieve my goal?

What is the time frame?

Assign a deadline for achieving your goal. When you do this consider the questions above. If you don't have what it takes to achieve your goal, you may have to set a longer time frame. Instead of 12 months, you may have to take 18 months or more.

How do I know that I have achieved my goal?

If you can't measure your goal, you won't know when you have achieved it. This is why you must make it specific. Measure your progress at interim so that you can see that you are making improvement. It will also motivate when you can see that what you are moving in the right direction. You can also use the measurement as a feedback to make corrective action.

What action steps do I need to take to achieve my goal?

This is the time to do a personal brainstorming session. Take a piece of paper and write 25 things or action steps that you can take. At this point of time, don't think of whether they are attainable.

Why 25? Because it will stretch your mind to think out of the box. The first 10 mostly are the ones that you have used, tried or tested. If you repeat what you have done, you will get the same result. So, to achieve something different, you must do something that you haven't done before.

Now that you have the list of 25 possible things that you can do, pick one and brainstorm it further. This is your to do list. Take immediate action based on this list and strike it out when it is done. Add more action steps as you progress.

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