Here we go again with SMART goals. Are you ready for some buckets? I hope they aren’t the ones with little holes in them. We have talked about how SMART goals are not the same as New Year’s Resolutions, which take less than 3 weeks for you to break and feel guilty about. How are you doing creating some SMART goals instead? Oh, you still haven’t started on them yet? And here we are in the first week of December. What are you waiting for? December 31? I started this discussion with you last December 31, if you remember. Did you make any goals then? No? I thought not.
So let’s look at creating goals in another smart fashion
Goals usually wind up in one of two buckets. The first are the goals we know we have a very good likelihood of keeping because we have done those already and know how we do. The second bucket is goals that we are not very sure we can accomplish because we are trying out something new. It’s a good idea to have some goals in each bucket.
Do you think the first bucketful of goals we know we can already do is a dumb set of goals. Why have a goal that you are sure you can do? Think of these as smart goals because you will gain confidence each time you do them successfully. Feeling successful makes you more willing to try new things because you think you can.
But what about the other bucket? What about the goals that you might not think are very smart or that you don’t think you can achieve?
We have already seen plenty about goal setting, but what about ways to achieve them? Let’s say that you have a goal in your not-so-sure bucket. May I make some suggestions as to how you can accomplish them? Your brain will help you succeed if you believe you can achieve it. You can easily use what we have learned about SMART goals as you do this.
So let’s look at some smart ways to help your brain believe.
- It’s a great idea to have humongous goals, but to achieve them you are going to have to do something other than dream. To get past the dream stage you need to have a reason you want to achieve a certain goal and you need a deep-seated desire to do so. The problem with these kinds of goals is there is a lot of brain resistance to doing the actual work. You find yourself with plenty of chances to tell yourself you can’t do this; however, with a reason and your deep-seated desire you can achieve any of your smart goals.
- Rome wasn’t built in a day. We’ve heard since we were kids. How does this apply to your humongous smart goal? You need to break it down into baby steps like we mentioned before that you can work on in a day or every day. If your goal is to learn a new language, you won’t learn it overnight. But you can learn it if you are willing to work on it for 30 minutes twice a day. This is something you can achieve. It’s sustainable and reasonable.
- Work on your goal daily. As you keep doing the baby steps that you decided you could do every day, you will see yourself getting closer to the goal. Here’s a little secret. You need to work on your goal consistently for 30 days to create a good momentum or you won’t get there. But if you lose a day, don’t make an issue of it, just get back to it the very next day.
- You have divided the smart goal into baby steps. Now that you are getting a feel for what you are accomplishing it’s time to make your baby steps a little more difficult. Don’t make them so tough that your brain says sends you danger signals tell you that you can’t do this. You can adjust and adapt until you are in the right place between too easy and too hard.
Don’t go into this alone. Have an accountability buddy who can tell you if you are moving forward and can give you a high-five as you do. If you aren’t brave enough to ask for such help, you can reward yourself. If you work off a daily to-do list, the act of crossing off your daily bite might be enough of a reward. You can give yourself gold stars. Yes, that’s cheesy, but your brain loves to know that you are doing good.
- You can’t focus on that goal or even the baby step all the time. That’s not smart. You need to take time out where you aren’t focusing on it, or you can allow yourself cheat a little or even don’t do it ONE day. Since you know you are going to do that anyway, why not schedule some “me” time. That way you won’t feel guilty. But be sure you don’t make a habit of taking “me” time too often or you will lose your habit of working on your goal. Once or twice a week seem like good amounts to take time off.
- You are going to get bored. Doing a baby step of the smart goal is going to be boring at times. It’s like mowing the grass. You just get it mowed, then later that day it rains; and you ask yourself why mow the grass at all. Working on your goal, in this case a well-manicured lawn, means that you have to do something even when it’s boring. You succeed at your smart goal with stick-to-it-iveness. As you keep going you will achieve your goal.
You can do it
So that is a SMART way to achieve those goals in your second bucket. Keep going in the direction you want to go and then don’t stop no matter how bored you might get. Schedule in times for a break and create some positive rewards. Before you know it this SMART goal will be so easy that you know you can do it.
If you are struggling with achieving your goals, we can help you develop a Roadmap to help you to achieve your marketing goals.
What steps have you taken to achieve your goals? Do you have a suggestion that might help someone else reading the comments below? Please share.
Jaco Grobbelaar is the owner of BroadVision Marketing. BroadVision Marketing works with business owners to put in place inbound and outbound marketing strategies that consistently secure new clients. The BroadVision Marketing Training Center is located in Petaluma, CA and primarily serves companies in the San Francisco Bay area.
Jaco can be reached at jaco@broadvisionmarketing.com or 707.766.9778 or connect with Jaco on Facebook - www.facebook.com/broadvisionmarketing - and LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/JacoGrobbelaar. He can also be found at Jaco+.