Path to Success - SMART Goal Setting
As a recap, lets see the steps in the Path to Success,
1. Belief
2. Setting Goal
3. Targets
In our last post, we saw how powerful 'A belief' is and how it can manipulate our future. Lets see the next step in this post.
Now we have a belief or a dream. I will be rich one day - it is a belief and I want to be rich - a dream.
But, is dream enough? If it is, then everyone has dream and why they are not achieving it. The one who drags the dream to next level achieves it.
What is the next level? Setting a Goal.
What is the meaning of goal setting? A dream will always be a dream if there is no plan. Setting a time bounded goal will activate it.
How to set goals and achieve them? We have to first know the difference between a dream/belief and a goal.
A Dream may not be a specific one. But a goal should be specific.
An example of goal setting is, Want to become rich is a dream. Setting a goal of become a millionaire in a span of 10 years is a goal.
The importance of goal setting is, it gives life to our dream and triggers an activity based plan to achieve that goal.
How to set a goal?
Implement SMART Goals, which means the Goal should be,
- Specific - The Goal should be specific not ambiguous.
- Measurable - The Goal should be measurable.
- Achievable - The Goal should be achievable , else we eventually wont pursue it after sometime.
- Relevant - It should be relevant to our life. Irrelevant goals waste time.
- Time-Based - If the goal is not time-bound, it is just a dream.
Example smart goal for the above scenario is,
- Specific - Our Goal is to earn 1 million. It is specific and precise
- Measurable - We can track the earning/savings and plan each year accordingly as we progress.
- Achievable - It is an achievable goal
- Relevant - Our goal is relevant to our life
- Time-Based - Our goal is time-based one and can be achieved.
The Goal setting step is important. Since it is the base for the all other steps, frequent changes in the goal will hinder your progress and keep you where you are. before setting a goal, think that your future is depends on this goal.
Once the goal setting is done, we are half done. We have done with the majority of designing part. Designing part is always fun but it is where we have to stay focused.
We have seen smart goal setting. In the next post, we will see how to achieve the goal by setting targets.
