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S.M.A.R.T. Goals - Time Sensitive
By Ben | July 10, 2008
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Now that your goal is Specific, Measurable, stated “As if now”, and Realistic, we just need to associate it with a date to ensure timely progress.
You want to make sure your goal is timed or time-sensitive. Otherwise, there is no way to be certain of your progress. If you want to have $1 million someday… you will never actually have to achieve the goal. If you want to have $1 million by 2 years from today, then you will be able to tell at that point whether or not you have achieved it, if you have overshot it, or how close you came.
This also has a more motivating effect, or as Drill Sergeants would say: It helps you
Light a fire under your ass!
If you have a definite date by which you want to achieve the goal, then you should get a feeling of “I’d better get moving” or “I’m gonna make this happen!” If you don’t feel motivated to get it done, consider how much you actually want this goal, and also consider moving up your timeline.
This goes hand in hand with creating realistic goals. What is completely unrealistic given a year might be a walk in the park given 5 years. It is best to consider the realistic and timed aspects of your goal simultaneously. You can even use this to create a timeline of goals and subgoals.
In addition to having a time associated with your goal, it is important to make sure your goal is moving you toward what you want.
There are a few general fashions that people move about the world.
- Some move towards what they want.
- Some move away from what they don’t want.
- Most people do a mixture of the two
Much of what I’ve seen about the Law of Attraction demonizes the concept of moving away from what you don’t want. It is true that this isn’t where you want to direct the majority of your focus. However, we usually need to experience some of what we don’t want in order to realize what we really do want.
Allow me to re-iterate:
there is nothing wrong with being aware of what you don’t want!
You don’t want to spend an extended amount of time focusing on it, but you have to be aware of it to find what you do want. Once you clarify what you do want, spend the majority of your goal setting/goal reviewing time focusing on or elaborating on what it is that you want.
As an example, when you find yourself saying/thinking “Damn, this sucks!” or “I really don’t like it when this happens…”, it’s a good thing! Now you have the opportunity to recognize what you would like to have instead.
When bad things happen at your job, in your relationships, or elsewhere in your life, allow this to redirect your attention to the way you would like for it to be. You can now put your new outcome through the entire S.M.A.R.T. formula to clarify it and then establish an action plan.
When you feel a little ‘off your game’, or if you fell short of what you wanted, recognize it… accept it! Relax! Now you can begin to focus on what you want to happen in the future!
At this point, you should have a very clearly defined, motivating, time-sensitive goal. It should be focused toward what you want to achieve. When you think about your goal in these terms, you should feel clear and confident!
In my next post in this series, I will cover a few additional aspects of goal setting that will further allow you to create your outcomes more and more easily.
keep smiling,
ben
P.S. if you haven’t told me what you would like to see in the new Peaceful Prosperity Coaching program, check out Questions for the new Coaching program…
Topics: -The Law of Attraction, -Neuro-Linguistic Programming, -Goal Setting, Change Your Neurology - Mundane |
