To keep track of our progress over time it’s important to set great goals week-by-week. Goals will help keep you accountable, motivate you to do more, and help you identify a problem early in case something does not go as planned. Goals also help you improve and become the best version of yourself.
So how do I set goals?
Set one daily goal with the SMART Method:
- 𝓢pecific: Your goal should be clear and specific, otherwise you won’t be able to focus your efforts or feel truly motivated to achieve it.
- 𝕸easurable: Your goal should be measurable so that you can track your progress and stay motivated. Assessing progress helps you to stay focused, meet your deadlines, and feel the excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal.
- 𝓐chievable: Your goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it should stretch your abilities but still remain possible. When you set an achievable goal, you may be able to identify previously overlooked opportunities or resources that can bring you closer to it
- 𝓡elevant: This step is about ensuring that your goal matters to you and that it also aligns with other relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals, but it’s important to retain control over them. So, make sure that your plans drive everyone forward, but that you’re still responsible for achieving your own goal.
- 𝓣ime-bound: Every goal needs a target date so that you have a deadline to focus on and something to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over your longer-term goal.
Example
Goal: My goal tomorrow is to practice my time-management skills more strictly by time-boxing my activities and finishing the milestone of my project in 2 hours. I will start at 10 am on Tuesday and finish by lunchtime on Tuesday by limiting distractions and staying focused.
- My goal is 𝓢pecific. I did not keep it broad by saying I will focus on “time-management” but I defined what that implies: time boxing my activities and finishing in two hours.
- My goal is 𝕸easurable as I defined in how much time I would need to finish it in order to achieve my goal.
- My goal is 𝓐chievable and not too ambitious as two hours is the general time it takes to finish this milestone.
- My goal is 𝓡elevant because it helps me move forward in my curriculum.
- My goal is 𝓣ime-Bound because I defined when I would start and when I need to finish.