Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals works! Many people want to achieve goals and as an executive life coach I work alongside them. But success is never an accident. It starts with a goal and it’s only by studying the success of others that this pattern emerged and was crafted. As a homebuilder our company success was based on setting and achieving goals. This strategy worked as the net profitability increased 10 fold.

We thrive when we set and achieve goals. God gave us these desires in the first place and He wants us to take action to achieve His purposes.

God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him.

Philippians 2:13 NLT

 

Here’s what SMART means for goal setting:

1            Specific             Specify, in writing, exactly what you want to achieve. (In writing, hyperlink to previous weeks post See How Easily You Can Achieve Your Goals.)

Bad:      Loose weight.

Good:   Loose 15 lbs.

 

2            Measureable                              In business there is an expression “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”. You want to know quantifiably if you hit the goal.

Bad:      Make more money.

Good:   Earn $10,000 more next calendar year with additional streams of income.

 

3            Actionable      Goals start with action verbs; start, finish, begin, schedule rather than be, have, am, etc.

Bad:      Be a better parent.

Good:   Schedule one on one time each week with each child.

 

4            Realistic           Set goals that have a 50/50 chance of occurring. You can’t make them too easy. Personal growth comes outside our comfort zone; remember The Magic Of Thinking Big. People over estimate what they can achieve in one year, but underestimate what they can achieve in 10, 20, or 30 years.

 

Bad:      Get out of debt.

Good:   Read and apply 7 baby steps in Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

 

5            Time Bound  All goals need dates associated with them.

 

Bad       Get more exercise.

Good    Sweat for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week at 6am Mon – Fri.

 

An inspiring video by a 14 year old girl moved me to create some new SMART goals. I decided to set a SMART goal of helping to provide clean drinking water for 1,000,000 people in Asia as my legacy. This goal came from a desire to change the reality that 25,000 people die every day from not having clean drinking water, mostly women and children.

 

Specific                            1000 wells

Measureable                    20 per year

Actionable                      write the cheque each January.

Realistic                          It’s a big number but doable in baby steps.

Time Bound                 Over the next 40 years 800 villages will be provided with clean drinking water; some after I’m gone

 

By telling everyone I know about this one pivotal issue, many more wells will be drilled. Any future business income we receive is also going towards fulfilling this goal faster and hopefully, exceeding it. You’re helping too as the proceeds of this blogs Amazon Affiliate income are going towards providing additional wells.

 

Remember, God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him. Make your goals SMART to achieve the passions He has given you.

 

Attitude: Has your inactivity been excused by just “waiting on God”?

Action: What dreams do you have that could be made SMART goals?

Question: What are your goals?