By Flavia Mosci
Do not confuse dreams with goals; there is a S.M.A.R.T way to materialize your aspirations.
Often when we ask someone what their life’s goals are, they passionately describe their dreams; they talk about their hopes and wishes.
Yet, there is a distinctive difference between goals and dreams.
A dream = some future outcome. A goal = some future action
A goal = some future action
Dreams are imaginary and if they remain only in thought, they do not reach tangible results This is not to take away from the importance of a dream which is what drives and inspires. Yet, we must remember that our lives are changed by the goals we set.
Goals are part of every aspect of our personal and business life and serve to provide a sense of direction with a clear guidance. While a dream is
a cherished aspiration, ambition, or an ideal the goals are planned or written steps on how to achieve the desired result.
Goals can be either short or long term, but what is important is that they are specifically outlined with well-defined objectives.
One of the greatest techniques that I subscribe to which guide me on setting and managing effective goals is called S.M.A.R.T criteria. Smart goals were mentioned back in 1981 by George T. Doran, who published an amazing paper called: “There’s a SMART Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives.” In this publication, Doran presented S.M.A.R.T as an instrument to help improve the chances of success in reaching those goals. He stressed that to make successful goals, it would be necessary to include all the following criteria: : Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.
Specific: The main question to ask here is: what exactly do you want to achieve?
The more specific your answer, the bigger the chance you will achieve exactly that. This is where we differentiate between “I want to be a millionaire” and I want to make $250,000 with each of the 4 car wash businesses that I open within the next three years. Where, how, when, with whom, are some of the questions to keep in mind in this section. Here you can brainstorm all the different ways in which to reach this goal, then you must choose the path.
Measurable: A goal needs to be broken down so that you can measure your progress. The main question to ask here is “how will you know that you have reached that goal?” What is it that you will see or hear when you reach this goal? The answer here should be concrete. Going back to my previous example, if I am only measuring everything at the end of three years and I have only been able to open 1 car wash business generating 250,000 then I may not be achieving the original results of opening 4 places within three years. I should have set means since the beginning to measure my progress throughout.
Attainable. Is your goal attainable? This is where you analyze the effort, ability, time, and costs involved. If you say you want to start a car wash business next month, but you have not figured out how you will attain the initial investment, you may need to rewind and start setting different goals.
If you do not have the required time, financials, knowledge, and ability to reach your goal, you may struggle. This is not to say that you should forget about that dream, but perhaps there are other initial steps that you need to handle prior moving forward with this one.
If you are lacking certain skills, you can prepare by getting proper trainings. If you lack certain resources, you can look for different ways of attaining them.
Relevant: Is reaching your goal relevant to the outcome? Are the goals being set really going to support the outcome? The main question to ask here is “Why do you want to reach these goals?”
What is the objective behind the goal, and will this goal really achieve that? For example, I could question whether one car wash business can really generate around $250,000 a year because if this was a business that on average generated $80.000 and I opened 4, my goals will not exactly achieve my million-dollar income.
Timely: Time management is the key; make sure to set realistic deadlines or specific time frames of completion for each objective under your goals. . In designing your objectives, you could write something similar to: “I will complete this step by day/month/year”. When we stablish time as a priority, it produces a sense of urgency. This is what helps us to combat procrastination, and that feeling of being stuck.
I highly recommend this model and I can attest to the huge gains I have made in my life by using it. Give it a try! This can get you in the right track towards achieving those life-long dreams that you hoped for. Discipline, focus, action, and accountability can take you far.
