Today we are going to focus on the middle of SMART
When setting goals, a good goal is always attainable
This may sound kind of ridiculous, for who would make goals that are impossible to reach? The answer is pretty much everyone.
Now I am a firm believer in setting lofty goals for ourselves, but it is human nature to want things we can not have, and to change things we don’t like in others.
We often want change in other people whose behavior or attitudes we find unappealing. The natural mindset of humans is often, “If only my boss, neighbor, spouse, or children would change, then we would be soooo much better off.”
When setting goals, we can’t set goals for other people
Yes we can help influence, give direction, offer advice, and make life easier for others, but if our goal is “world peace” then we are setting ourselves up for failure. Now world peace would be a great thing, but the accomplishment of this goal is entirely dependent on everyone else changing.
Setting goals must always be clearly defined around you. Not that we only care for ourselves, but our goals must be for ourselves first, and then we can bring others in.
For example, if our goal is to have a family reunion, then we must be willing to organize the reunion by ourselves, regardless if others get involved or not.
If the accomplishment of a goal is entirely dependent on actions, or inactions of others, then we would not fulfill many goals.
When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them.
You will also begin to see previously overlooked opportunities that will help you come closer to achieving your goals.
Remember when setting goals they must chiefly be our own, and then you can bring in others. This will allow you to work on the next point in good goal setting and that is, goals must be attainable.
When goals are too far out of reach, we typically wont commit to doing them for to long
Although we may start with the best of intentions, the knowledge that it’s too much for us means our subconscious will keep reminding us of this fact which stops us from even giving it our best.
When setting goals we need to have as much control as possible. It can be quite dispiriting to fail to make a personal goal for reasons beyond our control! If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals and draw satisfaction from them.
All sorts of people, employers, parents, media, and even society can influence us to set unrealistic goals. Alternatively we may be setting goals that are too high, and not appreciate the obstacles in the way. Sometimes we don’t understand the skills we need to meet a particular level of performance. Remember in the beginning, it is important to set goals we can make. It’s like trying to compete in a marathon without entering a few shorter races first.
Our abilities do not always determine what we accomplish in the future, because skills and abilities can be learned along the way.
Setting goals we can reach, the conclusion:
The ability of setting goals that are attainable will become easier over time, as you begin to name the things you want to carry out in life and set out to do them. As you develop the skill sets needed to advance you towards your goals, you will need to work on the last basic principles of setting goals you can reach. All good goals will be relevant and time bound.