Setting and achieving goals is key to success. But often mistakes in how and why we set our goals are what can slow and hinder our progress. Overreaching, can have a negative effect in the long run. Setting SMART goals helps you set attainable goals, that will keep you focused, and always aimed in the right direction.

This blog post will explain how to construct and set SMART goals, and showcase examples of how they work in practice.

S – Specific

The starting point with a SMART Goal is to be specific. Your goals and objectives need to be clear and concise, with no room for confusion in what you are aiming to do. The goal can be very specific, like “increasing the amount of online reviews”, or broader and perhaps project based, along the lines of “improve customer satisfaction”.

M – Measurable

After you have established what you intend to do, you need to understand how you will measure your progress. How you assess your goals will vary depending on what you are doing. For example, in “increasing the amount of online reviews”, you might say that you need to get 10 extra reviews per month. For “improving customer satisfaction” there may be specific ratings on review sites that you can aim to improve.

A – Achievable

Making sure your goal is achievable is one of the key components in accomplishing it. When considering if your goals are achievable, you must consider as many variables as possible. This includes available resources, timing, finance, and anything else that you think may hinder or help your progress. Often the way to your goals is simple, but a lack of resources or time can stop you getting there. Making your SMART goals achievable can include breaking them down into smaller tasks and objectives.

For the “increasing online reviews” example, we would look at how reviews are collected and see if it is possible to increase that. If it is not with the available budget and tools, we could, look to acquire new ones. For “improving customer satisfaction” the achievability would come down to ensuring the products and services are doing what they are supposed to, and that customers remain happy with their experience overall.

R – Relevant

Making sure your efforts and more specific tasks align with your overall goals means that they are relevant. Keeping your goals relevant ensures that they are helping you get where you want to be, and that you aren’t spending any time developing ideas or skills on things you don’t need to.  The goal of “increasing online reviews” or “improving customer satisfaction” could be linked to the wider goals of increased sales, profit, and brand recognition.

T – Time-bound

The final element of a SMART goal is to ensure your objectives are Time-bound. This means having a deadline or at least a general time frame. This allows for proper planning and accountability. Both “increasing online reviews” and “improving customer satisfaction” could be given 6 months to a year. At this point you would need to determine whether the new efforts worked, needed altering, or the overall goal needs to be changed.

Ensuring each of your goals is SMART allows you to manage larger ideas and tasks while keeping your overall objectives in mind. To find out more about achieving your goals and gaining success, take a look at the accredited qualifications available with DLC Training.