Setting goals is the first step in achieving them. If you don’t know where you want to be, how will you ever get there?
It’s important to set SMART goals so that you don’t get frustrated or discouraged trying to reach an impossible goal.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely.
Specific
Make sure your goals are meaningful for you. Everyone wants to be happy, but happiness looks different for each person. Maybe you want to spend more time with friends, or find a job that you enjoy. Set a goal that is simple but significant.
Measurable
You need to be able to measure progress toward your goal. How will you know when you’ve reached your goal? If your specific goal is to spend more time with friends, then you can set a goal to hang out with friends once a week. If you want to drink more water, you can set a goal to drink 8 glasses of water a day.
Achievable
Your goals should be something that you can reach. Even if you have a big goal that seems very difficult, you can set smaller SMART goals that will lead you to that bigger goal.
Relevant
Set goals that make sense. If one of your goals is to be healthier, you might set smaller goals like exercising and eating a balanced diet. You wouldn’t want to set a goal of eating as many candy bars in a day as you could, because that would go against your goal to be healthy!
Timely
A SMART goal is based on time. Give yourself a deadline by which you want to achieve a goal. Perhaps you want to finish writing a story in one month. Or set a goal to do a certain action consistently for a certain amount of time, like making your bed seven days in a row.
Did you know that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down? Jot down some SMART goals and share them with a friend or other support person.
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