Welcome back to our blog! Today, we will talk about how important it is to make use of the smart goal setting method.
Table of Contents
Goal Setting
Wikipedia states the definition of goal setting as follows: ‘’Goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed in order to motivate and guide a person or group toward a goal.’’
But after working in a business environment, we know: There is way more behind goal setting than simply developing an action plan.
After working on research without a clear question and goal or better said action plan, it becomes clear: Chaos. Everywhere. All the time.
Comparing this experience to a goal-focused research is like looking at two completely different worlds and mentalities. A goal-based research is more flowy, smooth, way less stressful, and you always feel ahead of time since everything is clear in your head.
So, what can we take out of this? To stay focussed within your company, department, or in general life, it is important to set smart goals. This way you will definitely succeed in your future and get things done! It will save energy and time simply because you came up with a plan allowing you not to get lost along the way.
Moreover, smart goal setting bears the opportunity to see and measure your actual progress compared to the smart goal you set.
But before hoping for results, there’s a lot to consider in order to set up a smart goal.
If you are here today reading this article it is probably because something is wrong with your smart goal setting and that you cannot achieve the goals. Together we will try to figure out what is going wrong and we will give you all our best advice to improve your goal setting and make the goals achievable! Are you ready?
Most of the time, the problem is about formulating and setting the goal itself. It is very relevant and significant to put thoughts into the way of setting and defining the smart goal before starting to work towards it. And this is when it comes to setting s-m-a-r-t goals.
Smart Goal Setting Method
When defining and setting your goal, you should always keep in mind to make it smart! Smart goal setting in this case does not only mean smart – because the letters itself stand for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based – but using this strategy will definitely help you work towards your goal in a smart way. This strategy is very easy to apply but don’t get us wrong, just as powerful!
Let’s have a closer look at each word.
Specific –
Define and set your smart goal as specific as possible. Avoid generalizing and vague formulations, this way you will only lose focus. As said, a smart goal is the instruction plan for the future, for achieving your result, what you want, and a desired situation. You can make it easier for yourself by being as specific as possible. If you goal setting too broad it will be nearly impossible to stay focused.
Measurable –
Don’t forget to always include detailed data, numbers, and measurables, so that you can indeed keep track of the success of your progress. As said above, setting smart goals bears the opportunity of actually being able to measure the progress, so don’t miss this chance. Remember to always include percentages, numbers, and other data.
Attainable –
You should stress the fact that the smart goal needs to be achievable. If you set a goal that is too easy to achieve, you will most likely get demotivated, if you set a goal that is impossible to achieve, you will lose confidence and therefore, get demotivated. Make sure to keep balance in attainability when setting your smart goal, otherwise demotivation will be the result, . Remember, we don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges!
Relevant –
Make sure to set smart goals that are relevant for the project you want to create/improve/achieve. Too much and unnecessary information will just distract you from the focus. A too wide and broad goal setting will distract you from achieving them.
Time-based –
Give your smart goals a deadline. This is a way of motivating yourself to actually achieve your smart goals. Working with a deadline will underline the importance and urgency of the smart goal. Moreover, giving smart goal setting a deadline is a way of measuring your success, too.
You might think: wow, that’s a lot to consider when setting simple goals for the next month.
But, let us tell you, it is super easy and important. Keep these 5 words in mind when setting up your smart goals and you will definitely see more progress and even results when working towards the
Example
Let’s practice smart goal setting together.
First, see the poor goal setting below which won’t result in success.
Failed goal setting: At some point the marketing department should return profit into the company through its marketing activities.
It is not specific enough, it is not measurable, not attainable since you cannot read out of the goal what is really wanted, and with that being said it is not relevant neither, and not time-based.
Instead, the smart goal setting really looks like an instruction manual for the future and shows exactly what is wanted, by when, and how.
SMART goal setting: In 2 months, by 1st of November 2021, the marketing department should be responsible for 12% of ROI with only online focussed marketing activities, taking all the offline purchases out of the consideration.
It makes a lot more sense now, right?
How To Achieve Your Goal
With all of the above being said, it seems that being distracted from the goal is a sin. But not directly.
To achieve your smart goal, you also need to be flexible, spontaneous, and relaxed. If a specific circumstance turns out to be an opportunity to reach an even better result, you should not force yourself to stick to the manual aka goal. If one situation requires you to skip steps from the manual, then go ahead if it feels right.
Introducing you to the smart goal setting method, just stresses the importance of being as specific as possible. Too wide and broad goal setting can be a real deal breaker – but once you come up with a smart, specific goal setting, almost nothing can stand in your way. Just try to achieve it with your possible capabilities and see how the manual brings you to what you wanted.
SMART goal setting requires being flexible and adapting and that’s okay. For example, if you realize the deadline is approaching too fast, it is natural and okay to extend the deadline, or if the measurable is too high, it is okay to reduce it.
Don’t get demotivated or discouraged by things you can change.
Be specific, take the challenge, and see how the result comes to you..
If you struggle finding the perfect beginning of your marketing strategy, we are here to help. We can help you starting from setting your smart goals, prospecting, lead searching, lead generation, email automation and it goes much further!
Reach out to us and we will find a solution for your problem!
See you next time and thank you for your time!
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Mind tools (n.d). SMART Goals – How To Make Your Goals Achievable. Consulted on 31st of August 2021 via
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm
