Personal Leadership and SMART goal setting

“If I had six hours to chop down a tree,
I’d spend the first four sharpening the axe”
said Abraham Lincoln

That’s exactly how successful people think about goal setting.
They work smarter. Not harder.
Successful people set SMART goals.

What are SMART goals?
Having SMART goals means you know what you want.
And you have a plan on how to get it.
SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.

Specific
You start by clearly defining the goal you want to accomplish.
You need to know the why, who, what, where.
(Who is involved? What needs to be done?)
It’s important to know the WHY behind your goals — that’s what makes them come alive.
That’s your motivation.
It’s the fuel that takes you from where you are to where you want to go.

Measurable
Whatever your goal is make sure you have a way of measuring its progress.
Keeping track of your progress helps you stay motivated.

Example:
Let’s say you want to go on an “electronic diet.”
Tracking how much time you spend looking at various electronic screens will tell you if you are moving into the right direction. Or you need to adjust course.

Attainable
This means setting realistic goals.
Ask yourself, “Do I have the necessary resources to reach my goal?”

Example:
A high school student loves two things: math and playing sports.
Enjoys playing basketball — and is really good at it (in spite of being only five-foot tall).
A future mathematician or a professional basketball player?
The answer is obvious. Student’s efforts are best directed toward a career in mathematics.
That’s far more attainable than the alternative.

Relevant
Is this goal worth your time and effort? Is it in alignment and /or will it bring success to your other goals?
Another key question to ask yourself: is this goal really important to you?
Or you chose it because someone else thought this would be good for you?
Make sure you have the right answer.
Goals need to be relevant and in sync with the big picture of whatever it is you want to achieve.

Timely
This answers the WHEN question.
You have a specific period of time allocated to achieve this goal.
“I want to be in shape, I want to be fit” is not specific enough.
Say this instead, “I want to do 10 one-arm push ups by the end of this month.”
(That’s my utopian dream  : )
Goals need to have a time frame in which they are to be achieved.

To recap:
SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
SMART goal setting will transform your vision into reality.

Start today. And don’t hold back.

As Mark Twain said:

Throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream.
Discover.

Mariana Fieraru

Mariana Fieraru, an Eastern European transplant, fell in love with her new home shortly after landing in New York. She "discovered" pizza! Years later she still loves pizza. And so do her two feathered-kids, Sunny and Flipper

Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.

Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.

Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.

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