Smart Goal Setting
Don’t even think about getting another self help book or program on goal setting until you have read this controversial letter by clicking here!
Have you ever wanted to do something great? Have you ever wanted to do something small? No matter what you want to do with your life the thing that will actually cause you to do something instead of just dream about it is….
Goals!
That’s right, setting smart goals is the key to doing anything. Do you want to change the world and become president? You gotta set some goals. Do you want to make your wife happy? Set some goals!
So I want to talk with you about setting SMART goals.
But before I do that I want to share what Dr.Anders Ericsson discovered in his research. He has devoted his whole career to studying why some people are better and certain tasks than others. And he has been able to demonstrate that people who excel at any field are able to do so because of one thing, Deliberate Practice.
You’ve probably all heard the saying “Practice Makes Perfect” but that’s not totally true. “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.” For example, he talks about how dedicated figure skaters practice differently on the ice: Olympic hopefuls work on skills they haven’t get mastered. Club skaters, in contrast, work on skills they’ve already mastered. Amateurs tend to spend at least half their time talking with their friends and not practicing at all!
So basically, skaters who spend the same amount of time on the ice achieve very different results because they practice in very different ways. In Ericsson’s studies, this finding has held true for every skill imaginable!
What does this have to do with goal setting?
If you are wanting to accomplish anything you have to get very specific, or deliberate about what you want to accomplish. So…to set goals I use the: SMART Goal Setting Method.
SMART is an acroynm for:
Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic
Time Specific
Don’t be like an amatear ice skater and not set specific goals! They’re out there for fun. You’re gonna actually achieve your goals!
Here’s some good questions to ask when setting goals:
WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc.
WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish?
HOW are you going to do it? (By…)
Your answers to thse questions will be your first step in becoming the best at whatever you want to do.
