Goal-setting approaches: SMART goals

If New Year resolutions are famous for anything, then it's the infrequency with which people stick to them.  The most common goals are: losing weight, saving more money, changing job, getting fit, drinking less alcohol, and spending more time with family.  These ambitions are worthy but unfocused.

SMART is an acronym for particular attributes to help us achieve our targets:

S = Specific. Really be detailed about your objective.  Instead of wanting to "lose weight", try to "lose 8 kilograms".  Wanting to save more money could become saving an extra £25 per week, and changing job would be more specific if it were phrased as moving to a role in the pharmaceutical industry.

M = Measurable. It's only worth shooting for a target if we know when we hit it. Weight lost, money saved, and time spent with family are all measurable. "Getting fit" is not a measurable target, and so needs to be broken down, e.g. be able to run for 20 minutes and do 10 press-ups.

A = Achievable. Wanting to be the next chief of NASA, be able to swim the Atlantic ocean unaided, or become the world's strongest man are all big goals for a year. They are - with the exception of a few people - unachievable. Pick goals that challenge and inspire you, but not ones that are almost certainly impossible.

R = Realistic.  Good goals require some give and take. Effort or time is usually required to achieve them, and other aspects of our lives need to change to accomodate this.  Saving money means eating out less frequently.  Becoming fitter demands time spent working out. Spending more time with family means less time at the office (or at the pub). Are these sacrifices feasible for you? Realism means being sure that your life can adjust around the time, money, or effort you will expend in pursuit of your goal.

T = Time-based.  Set a deadline or a duration. Lose that 5 kg within the next 3 months.  Start the job in the pharmaceutical industry by August this year.  Save an extra £50 per week for 10 weeks. Stop drinking alcohol for an entire month.


Using the SMART acronym a nebulous goal such as "get fit" can become something much more detailed, such as "run 5 kilometres in less than 25 minutes by May 1st".  Such a goal is much more likely to be achieved.  Think about a couple of projects and see if you can turn them into SMART goals.