I achieve because I set goals. Prior to writing this post I was reading up on setting goals and I came across this really cool acronym; S.M.A.R.T, it stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted. Setting goals is something I strongly believe in and place emphasis on. I’m really good at setting goals for myself in business, but it never crossed my mind that I could use the same principles I use in business and apply it to my personal life…until recently. Obvious yes, but oblivious to me. Call it my “aha moment”.
I have been training for Sigma Corporate run, but it has been extremely difficult for me to get myself into the habit of getting up and running each morning. I knew what the ultimate goal is. The ultimate goal is being fit enough to complete the 5k race, but that was a huge goal with no milestones on the way there, I wasn’t motivated and the task seemed insurmountable. It’s easy to say you want to be rich, do a 5K race, do well in school etc, but if you don’t set specific goals it’s going to be extremely hard for you to accomplish anything.
For my 5K race:
specific: I know I wanted to run non-stop from point A to point B. I wasn’t concerned about my speed ( that’s another goal), but getting from point a to b was the first specific goal. Achieve one, move on to the other. Simple.
measurable: Via the nike+ running app
achievable: Broken down into small specific chunks. Be realistic.Not setting myself up for disappointment.
time-targeted: The race is on February 17, 2013. I have 15 days to prepare and I know what I want to accomplish and by when which will prepare me for the big day.
These are principles that you can apply to anything. Work, relationships, exercising etc.
Setting goals is giving yourself direction.
Originally published on gordonswaby.com on 2013-02-02 (recovered from the Internet Archive).