How to Write SMART Goals

You have goals. You want nothing more than to reach these goals. You know where you want to be in life five, ten or even twenty years from now and will do whatever it takes to get to where you’ve envisioned. SMART goals are the most effective and painless way to make your goals achievable. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. These factors are crucial when creating a blueprint for your career’s future. Let’s take a closer look at what SMART really means.

Specific

When setting a goal, you must always be specific. A well-defined goal will steer you on the path of achievement in no time. If your goals are vague and undefined, you will have a hard time finding motivation and achievement. While creating a specific goal, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want?
• Where is it?
• When will I accomplish it?
• Who else is involved?
• Which limitations or resources are involved?
• Why do I want this?

Ask yourself these questions at the very beginning of your Smart goals journey. Have fun with it! You should enjoy writing down the specifics of your goals and why you want them.

Measurable

Creating a measurable goal helps you track your progress and properly prioritize. When a goal is measurable, it will have elements such as deadlines to get you closer and closer to that finish line. Achieving these measurable elements will help you remember why you’ve started working on your goal in the first place.

Attainable

Your goal needs to be attainable and achievable! You must be realistic while creating your goals. Push yourself to be as successful as you hope to be, but remember your goal should be realistic so it has a better chance of being accomplished. How will you be able to accomplish your goal?

For example, let’s say your goal is to become an attorney. How will you pay for tuition? Do you have the time to go to law school? Resources such as time and money can play an important role in your goals.

Relevant

Is your goal relevant to what you hope to accomplish? If you know exactly what you envision for your career, this will be an easy question to answer. When your career objectives are clear, you should have no problem setting relevant goals and mapping out exactly what it takes to reach those goals. Ask yourself; will this goal actually help me achieve what I want?

Timely

A goal should always come with a timeline. Time is one of the most important factors of reaching a goal and we must have a plan on how we will spend our time wisely. Create realistic deadlines and timeframes for your goals so you can stay motivated at all moments. Ask yourself these questions:

• When will I accomplish my goal?
• When will I start working towards my goal?
• How much time per day will I work on achieving my goal?

SMART goals will help you stay focused and positive throughout your journey. Set a SMART goal today so you can be one step closer to achieving that career you’ve always envisioned!