Use The SMART Goal Setting Tool

Make Positive Changes In Your Life

SMARTgoals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-oriented.

The Smart Goal Setting tool can help you empower yourself make conscious, positive changes in your life.

Setting goals the S.M.A.R.T way can help you answer some of the following questions in a more satisfying way.

• Are you tired of multi-tasking?
  
  
• Does your to-do-list drive you nuts? Do you wonder why never gets any smaller?
  
  
• Do you have so many to-do-lists you forget which one you are working on right now.
  
  
• Have you struggled with changing an old habit? Or getting a new habit?
• Have you figured out what you don't want, what you do want, and where you want to be ... but just feel trapped, like you can't quite reach what you need or touch on how to get there?

Set SMART goals!

If you get stuck and just feel like giving up sometimes, you can get unstuck and make your dreams happen by following SMART goals guidelines in your personal life (and in your workplace).

You can learn the skills involved in "SMART goal" setting on your own. Just implement the SMART strategy to relieve a lot of the frustration and make positive changes, achieve your dreams, get what you want, and be where you want to be in life.

But if you really want move forward, life coaching can help you get the extra "umph!" to get unstuck. A life coach will use her coaching skills and intuition to help you actually AIM SMART when you set your goals. She'll help you be sure that you have aimed at the best target for you.

What is SMART Goal Setting?

So what does SMART really mean? It is an acronym that describes how you can make real, lasting, positive change in your life.

In a nutshell SMART is: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely

S - Specific: When you set a specific goal it is simple and easy to describe. Answer the What, Why, How questions. "I want to start an exercise program" or "I plan on changing habits to to healthy ones" is not specific. "I will take in a women's yoga classes through the adult learning program this semester so I can create a healthy habit of exercising to go with my new healthy food habits" is specific!

M - Measurable:How will you know you've achieved your goal? Be specific about the outcome of each step. "I'll enroll online this evening and start with Monday and Wednesday morning classes. And I'll practice at home 3 evenings every week." That's measurable!

A - Achievable: You want to stretch yourself a little when you set smart goals, but they must be achievable and fit in your life style as it is now. "Perhaps it is stretching it a bit to try and practice 3 evenings in addition to the two morning classes. I'll plan on 1 evening practice. That way I won't set myself up for failure."

R - Realistic(and Relevant!): You want your goal to be realistic for you. If you haven't been exercising, and you've never done any yoga, be sure you sign up for the beginner class! A more advanced class will probably just discourage you right now. You can set the beginner class as a step in the goal toward an advanced class down the road.

T - Timely: Set a clear time frame to achieve your goal. You are registering online this evening, you are taking the class every week for the semester, and it will lead you toward a mid-level yoga class next semester. If you are using the SMART goal setting model, the time lines will be measurable, realistic, and achievable.

The idea of SMART goal setting has been around for a long time. Peter Drucker first made it useful and mainstream in the business world way back in the '50s with his book, "The Practice of Management."

As often happens, people took the SMART idea from life's business arena and made great use of it in other, possibly more meaningful ways. Meaningful ways like achieving positive, conscious, personal change, finding and making life's goals happen, and realizing the dreams of a lifetime.

If you want to make your personal and professional dreams a reality, make conscious, positive changes .... create SMART goals to clarify your goal definition, and then follow through when you set them. That is the key that opens the door.

It can help to get some life coaching with some of your SMART goal setting. As a positive changes life coach, I can help!

For more information, be sure to see:

Goal Definition - A Dream With A Deadline. That is a goal definition that really speaks to me ...

Why Is Goal Setting Important? Achievement and wealth are two big reasons why goal setting is important. ...

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