How smart are your goals?

When it comes to goals, not all are created equally. For a goal to have true power it must be intentional and strategic enough to carry you through  challenges and obstacles, both internal and externally. Often, what people call goals are really “wishes” or “resolutions” that are  spontaneously created as a reaction to some type of negative experience or emotion. These goals are most often abandoned as hastily as they were vowed. The people that make and break them so easily hurt their integrity and damage their credibility.

Strategic life planning is like creating a road map for your life…a map that greatly increase the chance that what you say is actually what you end up doing.  Prayerful thought and consideration should be part of this process. The more accurately your map is designed, the better the chances are that you will arrive at your desired destination. So the question to ask yourself is, “How smart are your goals?”

S.M.A.R.T. is an acrostic that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Specific. Let’s take a closer look at each of these so we can draw up the best road map possible.

Specific – The first place many people fail in this process is in setting goals that are too vague. Saying “I’d like to lose some weight,” is like saying you want to get in your car and drive somewhere. If you don’t know where you want to go you are sure to end up wasting time, money and life. Make your goals as specific as possible. Write down, “I will lose 25 pounds, lose two dress sizes, decrease my percentage of body fat by 3%, etc.

Measurable – This principle is an obvious sidekick to the one above. Make sure that there is an actual way to measure your progress. Will you use a scale, dress size or fat caliper to measure your progress? If your goal somehow involves increased self confidence will you measure it by the number of times that you stand up for yourself, the number of jobs that you apply for, the number of people you ask on a date, how often you look people in the eye, or how many hands you firmly shake?

Attainable – Make sure to create an environment that is conducive to  small victories. Take your larger goal and break it down into what you would need to do each week to get there. If you have three weeks before your high school reunion, it’s not realistic to think that you can lose twenty five pounds (over eight pounds a week) over that period of time. Your goals should stretch you beyond where you are currently comfortable, yet should not be so lofty that they set you up for self-sabotage and ultimate failure.

Relevant – Your goals should be in alignment with your design as a person and with your overall purpose in life. If you are full grown at four foot five inches tall and have never played basketball in your life, it’s not realistic to have dreams of being in the N.B.A. On the other hand, there might be things that you could possibly do well that would compete with your focus toward success in a higher life priority. Your goals should not war against one another. Make sure there is synergy between the various goals that you set for yourself so they work harmoniously together to create the overall direction in life that you want to go.

Time Specific – Open ended goals are a recipe for failure. Put healthy pressure on yourself by being specific both with starting and ending dates. It’s also helpful to set in between dates at regular intervals to measure your progress.

There are two more strategies that you should add to your goal-setting arsenal that will greatly increase your level of success. First, committing your goals to writing hugely increases the likelihood that you will complete them. Do yourself a favor and take the time to write them down. Post them in highly visible places where you will see them often. Rehearse them regularly and remind yourself of both the costs and rewards of completing or breaking them. Consider heightening the emotion attached to the costs and rewards by posting pictures that represent the “pain of staying the same” vs. the reward of transformation.

Now go the extra mile. Share your goals with someone else…a person that you can trust to be tough on you if necessary…and ask this person to hold you accountable. Tell him or her why your goals are important to you. Ask for honest, loving confrontation through your times of weakness or failure.

I personally like 12 week goals because they fit nicely into a calendar year. You have four annual cycles with a week before each to pray and plan for the next. Twelve weeks is short enough that your disciplines don’t seem “never ending,” yet long enough to form new and healthy habits.

Putting these strategic principles into regular practice will go a long way towards helping you reach your desired destinations in life. Don’t forget that failing to plan is really planning to fail. It’s just poor stewardship of the life that we’ve been given. You were designed for forward progress, built to break barriers and destined for greatness. I wish you God’s wisdom and strength on your journey. Here’s to your success! Blessings…R.P.P.

Randall Paul Pipes is a life development specialist helping people
discover and develop God’s unique purpose for their lives through
coaching, seminars, public speaking and resources. Visit him at www.lifepurposetips.com or contact him at randall_paul@lifepurposetips.com.

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