Goals

Approximately one year ago, as I was settling in at my desk and getting prepared to start the day, I received a meeting invite with the subject line “S.M.A.R.T. Goals Training”. I immediately rolled my eyes and envisioned spending the requisite two hours staring at mind-numbingly boring PowerPoint presentations chock full of cheesy corporate lingo and outdated catchphrases.

As fate would have it, I did end up being stuck in a dimly lit conference room staring at PowerPoints later that day, but I didn’t completely tune out. Instead, I went into the training with an open mind and a willingness to participate and learn something new. If there was one point that I took away from the training that day, it was the fact that perhaps I didn’t know everything there was to know about setting goals.

I’ve always been a huge proponent of setting goals and have been since I was very young. There has never been a particular rhyme or reason to most of the goals I’ve set in my life, but luckily I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve the vast majority of them. After my introduction to the S.M.A.R.T. goal system last year however, I can confidently say that I’m a changed man and whole-heatedly recommend this systematic approach to goal setting. Luck will no longer play a part in my ability to reach and accomplish my goals.

As you’ve probably already guessed from reading the title of this post, S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym and stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. The basic premise of the system is that each of the goals you set for yourself must meet each of those five criteria.

Specific
I’ve been guilty of setting vague goals more times than I care to admit, as have many friends and colleagues that I’ve spoken to. While that’s a common mistake, it is absolutely essential that your goal be as specific as possible, otherwise your objective isn’t as clear and detailed. Could you imagine what the outcome might be if a General led his troops into battle after telling them their mission was to simply “be successful”? How are they supposed to be successful if they don’t even know what their objectives are? The bottom lines is that if your goal isn’t specific enough, you really have no idea what you’re trying to achieve, nor do you have a starting point for picking the best approach.

Measurable
What can’t be measured, can’t be managed. In other words, it’s important to state a goal in a quantifiable manner so that you can measure your progress. For example, instead of saying that you want to read War and Peace, I’d suggest going with something more like the following: “I want to read War and Peace, cover to cover, by December 31, 2009″. Notice how we’ve now given ourselves a deadline to complete and measure the goal by.

Attainable
Why the heck would I bother to set a goal that’s unattainable? That was my first thought as well, but if we dig a little deeper, we have to realize our strengths and weaknesses and determine if we actually have the necessary skills and abilities to complete our goals. For example, if my goal is to max out my 401K contributions next year, I need to carefully evaluate my finances to determine whether or not I have the necessary financial means to actually achieve my goal. If I’m facing a possible lay off next month, it might be time to rethink my goal.

Relevant
By making your goals relevant, you ensure that they are in line with your personal objectives and ultimately, your values. In other words, your goals should fulfill a purpose or cause that’s important to you.

Time-bound (or timely)
Lastly, your goals should be time-bound. If you were to leave your goals open-ended, procrastination could easily set in and delay your progress significantly. To mitigate the likelihood of that happening, set a realistic time line around each of your goals and measure your progress regularly. For instance, to reuse the 401K example I mentioned above, it would probably be wise to reword my goal to something like this: “I want to contribute $1,000 to my 401K by the end of every month”. That way, I’m being held accountable every month as opposed to at just the end of the year.

My S.M.A.R.T. goals for 2009

1. Surpass a balance of $7,500 in my emergency fund by December 31, 2009
   Status: Complete. I should have $10,000 saved by December 31, 2009.
2. Contribute $400 per month to my Roth IRA every month in 2009
   Status: Incomplete. I’ve been unable to achieve this goal because I made the decision to return to school to complete my bachelor’s degree (more on that in a future post) and my tuition payments take precedence over my Roth IRA contributions.
3. Contribute 6% to my 401K every month in 2009
   Status: Complete. I haven’t missed a single contribution this year.
4. Pay off my car by the end of the year
   Status: Complete! I went Gung-Ho earlier this year and finally paid my car off this past August.

So what about you?

Were you already familiar with the S.M.A.R.T. goal system and have you had any success in implementing it? If not, would you consider giving it a shot to see if it actually does improve your follow-through rate for your goals? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Image courtesy of: Hamed Saber

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