The Accountability Guy®
A life without a goal or ambition is a circle or a zero. One can continue in a vicious loop without direction, but in order to progress in the proper direction, one must have a set of boundaries or goals that can determine whether one is on the right track in his or her life journey.
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SMART goals are defined by well-defined characteristics and objectives. What good are clever goals if they don’t help you define your life and career? To mention a few, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Nelson Mandela all had a vision or aim that guided their activities. Their lives have always been held up as shining examples of wise aims for others to emulate.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound, and it is an acronym that defines the requirements for defining goals and objectives. SMART goals are used in strategic planning to set concrete corporate goals that can be implemented in a specific time frame, usually during quarterly or annual planning meetings. Let us expand on the term SMART.
Is the objective specific in terms of its means and ends?
Is it possible to measure the goal? How? What particular actions will lead to this goal?
What specific actions will lead to this goal? What steps do you need to take to get there?
Is this aim relevant to your work responsibilities, team, and company? Is it based on elements that you have influence over?
What time period are we talking about? Is it based on a deadline or a specific date, or does it follow a set schedule?
Let’s take a better look at what each of these entails:
It means that when defining a goal, one should be exact in his approach and explicit about his intentions. ‘‘Specific’ does not imply that we must describe how we will go about attaining our objectives, but it does serve as a mission statement. The answer to the 5Ws (why, where, when, what, and whoever) as well as the Hs (how), this set of interrogative phrases might assist us in achieving the ‘‘Specifics’ of our goal. It’s an intriguing strategy.
Measurable goals are those that specify exactly what you will see, hear, and feel when you achieve your objective. It entails breaking down your goal into manageable chunks. You’ll need proof to back up your claim. Being happier isn’t proof; quitting smoking because you live a healthy lifestyle that includes eating veggies twice a day and fat only once a week is.
Measurable objectives might also help you narrow down exactly what you desire. The physical manifestations of your aim or target should be defined to make it clearer and easier to achieve.
Is your objective attainable? This entails determining whether the aim is truly acceptable to you. You assess the work, time, and other costs your goal will incur against the returns as well as your other duties and priorities.
You’ll almost likely fail and be unhappy if you don’t have the time, money, or talent to achieve a specific objective. That isn’t to say that you can’t take something seemingly impossible and make it a reality by strategising and going for it!
To set relevant and achievable goals, you must assess your own potential as well as the potential of people in your company or business that work with you. Knowing if you have the right resources to attain your objectives is a vital part of setting them.
Furthermore, it is critical to eliminate the ideas that usually have a negative impact, such as “I cannot,” so that a realistic and attainable objective may be set. Relevant goals can only be attained if you have everything in place, from the brainstorming stage to knowing what resources you’ll need to reach them.
Every goal should have a target date so that you have something to aim toward and a deadline to focus on. This portion of the SMART goal criterion keeps your daily duties from taking precedence over your long-term objectives.
When it comes to goal setting, the SMART way of setting, maintaining and achieving goals can take you a long way. Being specific is a character trait that everyone should inculcate as is, imbuing it into goal setting can help you a tonne. Setting achievable goals in a set time limit can also help you a lot
Darren Finkelstein is The Accountability Guy®. This involves being an International Accountability Coach, Business Advisor, Mentor, Author, and Speaker.
Darren works with high-performing teams and individuals across Australia/NZ, UK, USA, Latin America, Europe and Asia to help get results, achieve their wildest dreams, and smash goals. He does this by leveraging over 30 years of experience working in the corporate world and small businesses.
A successful business owner himself, Darren won the Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award for Dent Global after building a wonderful lifestyle business, successfully sold and exited after 15 years.
Before this, Darren worked for over 10 years at Apple Inc. as ‘Manager of Commercial Markets’ during the inspirational Steve Jobs era. While there, he was awarded the prestigious Golden Apple Award.
Darren’s lessons in accountability can help individuals and teams at all levels of a business or organisation across the globe, and are based on actions and results:
Know what to do first
know what to do next
know what to do more of
1. Take the Accountability Scorecard
How accountable are you? Discover your accountability score and increase the probability of smashing your goals and Getting Sh!t Done. Take the quiz
2. Read my book "The Accountability Advantage - Play Your Best Game"
Eliminate procrastination and overwhelm and start playing your best game.
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3. Book a complimentary Accountability Assessment
Invest 15 minutes now and avoid months or years of struggle. If you genuinely need help becoming more accountable, it can’t hurt to find out. Book here.
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