People Never Achieve Goals Because They Set Bad Goals

Many people never achieve their goals because they set bad goals. 

EXAMPLE #1: GET FIT

BAD GOAL: “I want to get fit" or “I want to lose 10lbs.”

GOOD GOAL: “I want to eat 3 healthy meals per week and go to the gym 2 times a week for 15 minutes each.”

Notice how we’re focusing on the process at first, and starting off conservative: Anyone can eat just 3 healthy meals in a week. And anyone can go to the gym for 15 minutes. Set yourself up to win.

EXAMPLE #2: MONEY

BAD GOAL: “I want to save $1,000 this year.”

GOOD GOAL: “I want to have $200 per paycheck automatically transferred to my vacation savings fund for 1 year.”

EXAMPLE #3: SOCIAL SKILLS

BAD GOAL: “I want to work on my storytelling so I’m not so awkward at parties.”

GOOD GOAL: “I want to complete the Udemy online course it in the next 4 weeks.”

We need to create a SMART Objective. SMART Objectives are:

Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant and Time-oriented

Checklist for writing a SMART Objective:

Specific: Just like Example #1 above, start with the process at first. Decide on a specific action step you can take.

✔ What will you achieve?

✔ What does it look like? (What do you see in your mind when you picture yourself working towards your goal?)

✔ What is the action step?

Measurable: How will you know if you’ve reached your goal or not?  Avoid words that may have vague meanings like, “learn” or “feel” since you can’t measure them. Instead, use action verbs like “run,” “save,” or “write.” Then, turn those words into quantifiable benchmarks.

You need to be able to answer the question, “Did I get it done? If not, how much further do I have to go?”

✔ How will you know when it is done?

✔ What are some objective benchmarks you can hit along the way?

✔ Would someone else be able to tell that it’s complete?

✔ Is it quantifiable?

Attainable: The best way to achieve a goal is not to rely on motivation, but instead make it ridiculously easy for your future self to do the right thing. Instead of committing to running 5 days a week, start with one day and move up from there.

Relevant: Ask yourself, in the scheme of all the things you want to try, do you really care about this? 

✔ Why am I doing this?

✔ Is this a priority for me?

✔ Will it compete with other goals in my life?

Time-oriented: Give yourself a deadline to reassess your goal. And put it on the calendar! I like to re-evaluate my goals every 3-months to make sure they are still Attainable and Relevant.

✔ Is there a deadline?

✔ Did I put it on the calendar?

✔ Will I know in 3 months if I’m on the right track?

In short, if you want to set goals, never set bad goals. Bad Goals are goals that do not have SMART as criteria. 

By Andy Ng, Chief Trainer at www.AsiaTrainers.com