Every year around this time, there’s a lot of talk about New Year’s resolutions: How to make them. How not to make them. How to make them work. Why they don’t work.
A resolution is really just a goal, and most people need a system to make their goals stick. The SMARTER Goals system is one that can work for just about anyone. You’ll find it useful when you have a goal that is truly important to you. (And, I recommend only setting goals that are important to you. Otherwise, you won’t follow through!)
The whole point of setting a goal is to actually accomplish it. The setting of the goal is just step one. It’s extremely important that you set your goals in a way that you can and will accomplish them.
If you’re working on new skills, growing your business, getting ready for competition or trying to get your ideas heard and accepted, the process you use to achieve your goal can make or break your success.
SMART Goals
The most common system for setting goals is the SMART Goals system.What I found was the SMART Goals system. Each letter in the acronym SMART stands for a property that makes it more likely that you will attain your goal. Here they are:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timed
The SMART Goals system was developed decades ago to help businesses assess and achieve their project management goals. With some tweaking and experimentation this system has turned out to be just right very useful not only for the business world, but also for creative artists, athletes, and just about anyone with an important goal in life.
However, this SMART system has two serious issues:
Issue #1: The “Attainable” and “Realistic” parts of the acronym mean almost exactly the same thing. If something is attainable for you, then it is also realistic.
Issue #2: There’s nothing in the SMART system about the process of actually working on the goal. SMART is all about setting the goal, not achieving it.
FAST Goals
Because of these two issues, a newer goal setting system has come into vogue: FAST Goals. Fast stands for: Frequent, Ambitious, Specific, Transparent. There’s a wonderful explanation of the FAST system, and why this system is superior to the SMART system, from MIT’s Sloan School of Business.
So, is FAST the answer to SMART? Maybe. It all depends on your situation.
FAST does give you two ways to work on your goal.
First, the “F for Frequent” means to have frequent conversations about the goal. As you go along, working toward your goal, keep the lines of communication open with anyone and everyone who can help you achieve, reshape, and refocus your goal. That is sage advice.
Second, the “T is for Transparent” tells you to be open and public about the goal – as well as being open about the work you’ve already done and how well or poorly that work is going. Also sage advice.
Both of these are important in working efficiently and effectively toward your goals. But, they assume you have a team. Many people working toward a goal – athletes, performing artists, innovators – are working solo and are putting in serious amounts of time day after day without the benefit of a coach or teammates, let alone a boss and direct-reports like you’d have in the business world.
The FAST system has a couple issues also: Deadlines aren’t mentioned. I’m a firm believer in deadlines. Having a deadline, especially one you do not control, is one of the top motivators to add energy and focus to your work.
FAST also leaves out rewards for achieving your goal. It’s always nice to know that something good will happen when you achieve the goal – beyond the act of achieving the goal itself.
SMARTER Goals
So, I’ve developed a system that combines the best of the SMART and FAST systems – and works on some unique elements of human motivation that I’ve witnessed over the years as a performance coach working to optimize performance for business leaders, musicians, and athletes.
Here is my SMARTER Goals system:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Risky
T = Timed
E = Enabled
R = Rewarded
From the work I’ve done with many clients who are trying to make a real difference in their lives, I’ve seen that, if any one of these elements is missing, problems will occur when trying to accomplish the goal.
In later posts, I’ll go through each of the properties that make up the SMARTER Goals system, showing you how you can achieve your goals. You’ll get the most effective parts of the SMART and FAST systems in my SMARTER Goals system, so you can both set your goals and achieve your goals more confidently, efficiently, and effectively.
