SMS Approach to SMART Goal – Focus

Taylor and Bryant Jeter’s article on the tool at work to help with achievement goals is a great example of how to accomplish SMART goals and strive for concrete and quantifiable outcomes. Not just personal goals like your parents ever accomplished. SMART goals are specific, measurable, actionable, and time-bound. When achieved, SMART goals signal success to the individual in less than one hour. While Taylor and Bryant are successful in accomplishing their SMART goals, they stumbled on a problem: each goal goal did not include a timeline for each step in the process. That’s a problem since those plans need to be structured according to the process, to track time and do not require you to commit any time. Here are 5 tips Taylor and Bryant should keep in mind the next time you create your SMART goal. There are three stages that Taylor and Bryant considered:

1. Stop planning Step 2: Plan Follow-up Done

Self-made millionaires using SMART goals may not have the luxury to make plans for their plans as Taylor and Bryant did. Instead, they created a list of each potential goal to write out step by step with a to-do list. After completing a step or having everything in place, they use the checklist to plan the next step. Find a small screen and write the goal down quickly so that you have a sense of where you’re at. This is how you can accomplish a simple goal. When creating a SMART goal, do the same thing. 2. Grow

Taylor and Bryant realized that their plan needed to change once they started to grow. While they felt they were coming close to their goal, they realized that they had slipped a step in their plan. When you put out a SMART goal, you are setting yourself up for failure. When you believe that you’re in progress, you’re late. So before you launch into the next goal, think about what steps you’ve missed. Change the plan to grow from your first step to your final step. 3. Sustained

Taylor and Bryant created their SMART goal in response to the need to grow consistently over the long-term and stick to their SMART plan. They need to maintain their progress and in order to do so, they would have to create a plan to sustain. If you’re making progress, then it’s okay to give yourself a little slack and relax. But you also need to have the discipline to continue. If you’re using your plan as an excuse not to work out and you get to the bottom of your three-month, year, or 3-year goal goals in half a year, then you are setting yourself up for failure. That leaves you with the following question: Am I doing this goal consistently enough? Are you using your goal in the right way? Are you using it as a way to get things done but not always being very conscious of the time needed to complete each step? Remember to use SMART goals as a way to get things done consistently but also on time. 4.Improve

SMART goals are just that—SMART. You can’t just go back to a plan and say “I’m going to do a goal, but it’s done now” or you’ll just start taking more time and this will end up like your plan that you were working on a few steps ago and something you’ve had to give up. Taylor and Bryant adopted a goal in the form of an improvement that included how they’d improve over time, and that’s how they built a stronger plan. They looked at their SMART goal and thought about how they could improve and made a plan to improve. Taylor and Bryant realized that one goal is not enough and needed to include multiple key aspects of their plan to do things better over time. Taylor and Bryant started to look at their SMART plan for plan. Here’s how they would do it:

They’d develop their SMART plan together. They’d write down plans for improving over time. 5. Make it a habit

Here’s a great example of people starting something and sticking with it. This is a great illustration of how you can’t just make the goal and decide to quit because you know you’ve achieved the goal. Instead, you have to make a habit to work on your plan. After you create your SMART goal, use the checklist to develop your plan. Then you need to be consistent. Read through your checklist or workbook every day or two and keep your plan as organized as possible. 6. Keep it a Goal

In Taylor and Bryant’s case, Taylor and Bryant started developing their plan right away in hopes of making it a habit. It was in the works for months and as the end of the year drew closer, it became more real to them. Taylor and Bryant saw that making their goal a habit was going to take time, but made a plan to follow through, and they made that their goal. By the end of the year, Taylor and Bryant were aware of the importance of the plan. 7. Scope out and Start with the Goal

Taylor and Bryant knew what their goal was, they knew it would take time, and so they had to start on it. Even if you don’t start on it with your big goal, start on the small steps. Have a goal list you can check off every day or workbook you can use to set a date on which you should be done. Dave Sullivan of Peak Performance Spa in Natick, MA has this recommendation: The goal should be short, something that you can make the decision to use for your daily self-check in. But the goal also doesn’t have to be set before the day itself. Make sure you start working towards it. 8. Don’t Ignore Other Goals

Make sure that you have other things you’re working on as a goal. In Taylor and Bryant’s case, Taylor and Bryant decided to use their SMART goal to their advantage and their end goal—to improve over time. Using their SMART goal, Taylor and Bryant decided to use it to improve their eating habits in order to lose weight. But their SMART goal didn’t just end there—they also created an action plan for starting. 9. Use Your Plan as a Plan

Don’t just sit back and wait for your end goal to show up. Use your SMART goal as a plan. How would you turn this into an action plan? Doing this lets you know your direction and gives you more time to refine it. You might choose to give this plan a shot and see if your SMART goal can actually work out—you might be surprised by your efforts to improve.

Benefits of This Approach

As a result of using a SMART goal, Taylor and Bryant felt more confident and invested in their plan. They started sharing their plan with their teammates and other people involved in their life. They became excited about the project and over time, they increased their activity on the plan and improved on their approach. The strategy has been motivating for Taylor and Bryant to keep working on the plan—they’ve always felt they could do better—and it has helped them evaluate progress that they might not have made. They realized that a common mistake people make is to set long-term goals and then give them up after just a few weeks. For Taylor and Bryant, setting SMART goals takes one step forward, and then you’re back where you started. They don’t give up on their SMART goals; they made them their goal, and they continue to work toward bettering their lives. It’s been inspiring to see how Taylor and Bryant see their SMART goals as part of the bigger plan

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