The Importance of Setting SMART goals

At Empower U, we teach participants the process and benefits of setting SMART goals. Setting goals is a recipe for fulfilling many ambitions you want to undertake in your lifetime. 

S.M.A.R.T Goals – How do you do it?

SMART goals is an acronym, providing you with a well established template to set your dreams as realistic objectives. SMART goals should be:

• (S)pecific – You need to be specific with what you desire so you can become as connected as possible with the outcome. This should establish exactly what you want we want to achieve this goal. 
• (M)easurable – How can you break down the goal so you can easily measure your progress towards success?
• (A)attainable – What action steps do you need to take to make this goal a reality?
• (R)ealistic – Make sure the goal is realistically achievable based on where you are now and the time frame you have given yourself. 
• (T)ime Orientated – what is a realistic timeframe within which you would like to achieve your ambition? This means you have a deadline to work towards, which creates urgency which drives action. 

Here are some reasons on why it’s so important to learn how to set SMART goals for optimum success. 

S.M.A.R.T Goals Clarify your End Vision

When you set SMART goals, it’s an acceptance that this goal is important to you and you are going to achieve it. You’ve envisioned where you would like to end up. It’s time to start taking action and persist until you succeed. The process of creating the SMART goal makes you think about your ambition in more depth. The more thought into the goal setting process you have, the higher the chances of you seeing the goal through. 

S.M.A.R.T Goals Increase Focus

To focus means to remove your attention from what is unnecessary and instead divert this energy into what is needed. Having goals helps us find what is true to us and what we actually want to achieve in our lifetime. The process of setting SMART goals breaks down how we will get there and what it’s going to take. Having goals improves our long term focus too, as when we create a plan of action, it’s easier to break down the short term steps to reach our objective. 

S.M.A.R.T Goals Dramatically Increases Perseverance 

Having a mapped path for success is a great way to see how far you have come and how much longer you have to go. Having this awareness increases motivation to persevere, as if you know how far away you are from reaching your goal, you’re more likely to keep pushing. If you knew success was right around the corner, would that motivate you? So give yourself that opportunity to successfully achieve your goals.

S.M.A.R.T Goals Introduce Self Discipline

Self discipline is the ability to control your feelings and overcome your weaknesses. The development of genuine self discipline is a journey you will undertake throughout your lifetime, but the best time to focus on developing your self discipline is now. When you set your SMART goals, you have the opportunity to identify your strengths and weaknesses. For example, if your goal is to increase your results at the gym; your strength may be that it’s easy for you to wake up early in the morning to go to the gym. But, your weakness may be that you find it hard to eat lots of fruit and veggies. Keep this in mind when creating your plan of action and be wary of what are your weaknesses are so you can develop your self discipline. 

S.M.A.R.T Goals =  Less Stress, More Success

There’s nothing worse than the feeling of thinking you could have done more. If you have times where you’re blindly chasing an ambition without a plan – it’s no wonder your goals remain unachieved. When you set a SMART goal, you are setting them for no one but yourself. It’s easier to work smarter instead of harder when you have a strategy. This makes your life a whole lot more successful, with a lot less stress. When you want to pursue a goal, setting SMART goals will provide you with the best chance for optimum success. 

Here’s a short clip of Brent about setting SMART goals from a recent Empower U program:

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