SMART Goals & How to Use Them to Create Change
We’ve mentioned SMART goals in many of our past articles, and that’s because they permeate every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Setting smart “SMART” goals can help you think about your future, where you want to be, and how you’ll get there.
In this month’s blog posts, we are discussing the three types of satisfactions necessary for a positive business culture: procedural, relational, and substantive. In this article, we will take a deep dive into SMART goals and how we can use these objective steps to fulfill the three satisfactions.
SMART Goals
Goals are the stepping-stones to getting you to where you want to be. They are the ports you stop along the way on your seaside journey towards your dreams. Whether you’re setting a goal to be healthier, to go on more vacations, to reach a professional milestone, or to be the President, setting clearly defined, short-term and long-term objectives is the only way to get there.
Setting goals is a cathartic process that helps you reflect on what you truly want and determine the realistic ways you will get there. Achieving those goals is a boost in motivation, confidence, and competence. With each goal you reach, you become one step more capable and experienced towards reaching for your next target.
When creating your goals, they should always be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based.
Specific
Is this goal specific and clearly defined?
A SMART goal should provide a sharp direction towards achieving your objective. A goal should generate a detailed map that guides you towards your next goal.
Measurable
Can you quantifiably say whether or not you have achieved this goal?
If your goal is to “grow rich,” how do you know when you’ve officially reached wealth? If the goal is, instead, create a business worth six figures in 2 years, you’ll know for certain whether or not you have achieved $100,000.
Attainable
Can you reach this goal with your own amount of effort? Is it reasonable?
Setting unattainable goals will not get you anywhere. They can lower your confidence and make you feel like you haven’t achieved anything. This, in turn, can slow you down or make you stop working towards your target, hurting yourself and your business. Focus on goals you can attain—and surpass.
Realistic
Can you realistically achieve this goal?
Like an unattainable one, an unrealistic goal can make you feel like you aren’t good enough. Setting and achieving realistic goals can quickly boost you towards loftier objectives you would have never dreamed of before. Be realistic with yourself, and with each new goal, the possibilities of this “reality” will begin to expand.
Time-Based
Have you set a limit for you to reach your goal?
Ensure that your goal has a specific date—even a specific hour—by which it should be achieved. This will create a sense of urgency and help you map out your goals, so that they build on one another in a timely, efficient manner. It feels a lot better to say, “I will lose 5 pounds by April 31st,” rather than “I will lose 5 pounds eventually.” You want to know by when the goal should be achieved.
SMART Goals + Satisfactions
How can you use these SMART goals towards your business’ three satisfactions? What can you do to ensure that your procedures, relationships, and results are met through your objectives?
Procedural Satisfactions
Creating procedural goals will help your business reach daily, weekly, and annual targets. Thoroughly defined procedures enable and enhance business and culture satisfaction, because employees are able to understand and implement the vision of the company.
To create SMART procedures:
Specific: What procedures must be specific and precise in order to be effective?
Measurable: Do your procedures have defined steps towards completion?
Attainable: Are your procedures easy to execute?
Realistic: Are these procedures representative of your company?
Time-based: Are you setting a time limit for your procedures’ executions?
Relational Satisfactions
You want everyone in your business’ culture to understand the importance of relationships towards shared goals and successes. In this way, setting SMART goals can facilitate interpersonal growth and mutual development.
To create SMART relationships:
Specific: Who is involved? Why are they involved? What is their relationship to this topic or goal?
Measurable: Is each individual clear about what they are bringing to the table? Are successes able to be tracked and quantified?
Attainable: Are these people available and willing to fulfill the role?
Realistic: Do these people bring the capability to fulfill the goal?
Time-based: Is there an agreement established on participation? How often will people meet to discuss, review, and reestablish goals and procedures?
Substantive Satisfactions
The substantive satisfaction is the result that comes from the procedures and the relationships. By setting procedural and relational goals, the results should have some sort of substantial and concrete end target. Looking at substantive results in a SMART way will help to ensure that targets are being met, visions are being realized, and everyone is satisfied.
To create SMART substantiations:
Specific: Is the subject matter clear?
Measurable: Is there a process in place for measuring results?
Attainable: Does the substance allow for achieving objectives?
Realistic: All things considered, is it possible?
Time-based: Is there a timely procedure in place to measure and understand final and ongoing results?
Every action, objective, and decision should be smart, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based. Creating SMART goals, procedures, and relationships will then naturally engender smart end results and objectives. These smart substantive results will, in turn, beget the business mission, values, and culture that you envision.