SMART goals are a familiar concept, but have you heard of SMARTA or SMARTER goals? Let’s look at how applying this structure to your goal setting can make a difference to your journey and your destination.
When setting out on a road trip, the most useful thing you can do is find a route to your destination. Your GPS ensures you know exactly where you want to end up and that you won’t get lost along the way.
Using a GPS when goal setting is just as important. Goal setting is a necessary part of anyone’s life and is a habit that successful people continuously exercise. SMART goal setting is a technique that helps ensure that you set useful goals in a scaffolded way. While using SMART goals ensures personal success, SMARTA or SMARTER goals will drive both yourself, the people around you, and the planet towards a better future.
SMARTA goals are:
- Specific – you have a clear goal
- Measurable – you know what success looks like
- Achievable – the goal is challenging yet within your limitations
- Realistic – be honest with yourself and others
- Time-bound – you know your deadlines
- Attainable – the goal is aligned and agreed upon by others
Taking SMART goals another step further, SMARTER goals consider people, planet and values.
SMARTER goals are:
- Specific – you have a clear goal
- Measurable – you know what success looks like
- Achievable – the goal is challenging yet within your limitations
- Realistic – be honest with yourself and others
- Time-bound – you know your deadlines
- Ecological – how will this goal impact the people around you?
- Rewarding – how does the goal fulfil your values?
Apply SMARTER techniques to your:
Work life
Taking the time to apply goal setting to work life can seem daunting. Often it feels like you have so much to do that you don’t have time for goal setting. Yet this is the time when you need goal setting most. SMARTER goals, by nature, break your big picture goals into small bite sizes pieces. Simply identify all your workplace goals and use the SMARTER technique to create a steady workflow.
Study life
Whether you’re continuing studies or taking the first step in signing up for a diploma, study life can be a challenging chunk to balance. If you are worried about how you will balance your study, then use SMARTER goals as a way to prioritise what’s important to you. Avoid taking on too much if you will only fulfil your goals superficially. If you know you can be overwhelmed easily, then put structure around one aspect of your life first and then move onto the next.
At the start of your study, it is good practice to create SMARTER goals for each module or subject. They can be quantitative goals, value-based, or qualitative goals; the decision is entirely up to personal preference. As long as you implement the SMARTER scaffolding, you will ensure your goals are balanced.
Everyday life
Using SMARTER goals to set your long-term personal goals will help you live the best life you can. When goal setting, envision where you want to see yourself in 1… 2… 3… or even 5 years. Once you have clearly identified your destination, use SMARTER goals to backwards plan the steps you need to take between then and now. Ask yourself where the major checkpoints towards these goals are and outline the steps you need to take to reach them.
In day-to-day life, you may be confronted with many situations or tasks you didn’t anticipate. Whether you need to cover someone’s shifts at work, come down sick, or you’re having car trouble, you can still use SMARTER strategies to get you through a challenging day.
The more you implement these strategies into your everyday life, the more likely it is to become your habit when facing any obstacle. The best part about SMARTER goals is that they are a real-world solution. They give you forward thinking values and skills that will better equip you for life, study and the workplace. In these ways SMARTA or SMARTER goals can change your life.