Use SMART Goals to Achieve

One of the biggest perks (and challenges) new entrepreneurs face is being their own boss. For some, being self-directed comes naturally, but for most people, staying motivated and achieving goals is difficult.

The first step is to take a serious look at where you want your business to be five years from now. In light of that, what will you need to have accomplished in two years’ time? Then, in order to keep you moving in the right direction, what will you need to have in place 12 months from today?

One time-tested method of achieving your goals and staying on track is SMART goal setting. The acronym SMART stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time Deadline

Specific: Formulate and state exactly what it is you want to achieve. For example, “Investigate five office space options between the first and the thirtieth of this month” is a specific goal. Generalities, such as “Go to more networking functions,” are too vague to be helpful.
Specific answers the questions: What? Who? Where?

Measurable: Come up with clearly defined criteria to measure achievement of your goal. In the above example, you will know if you looked at the number of office space options.
Measurable answers the questions: How much? How many?

Attainable: Take an inventory of your limitations, strengths and talents. Set your goal that’s within your capacity to achieve but high enough to stretch you just beyond your comfort zone. Be realistic!

Relevant: This is where you make sure that your goal is in line with your larger business goals. Setting the goal of losing weight, unless you’re in the fitness industry, is not relevant to your ultimate business success.

Time deadline: Set a clear time frame in which to accomplish your goal (i.e., four networking functions in a month).

Setting SMART goals gives you a concrete target at which to shoot. It increases the likelihood of success in your business. Only 3 percent of people write down their goals, and just the act of writing them down significantly increases your chances of achieving your goals.

Writing and following through on these goals will enable you to move your business ahead in the direction you want to go. SMART goals will also:

• Motivate you
• Keep you on track and progressing the direction you want to take your business
• Enable you to avoid distractions and procrastination
• Provide you with built-in encouragement by illustrating your progress in writing
• Help you put together appropriate and helpful daily to-do lists

If you don’t achieve your goal, take time to evaluate why. Consider what you could have done differently.