At the beginning of this year, I reviewed my goals from the previous year. I was devastated to find that I had failed terribly at achieving most of them.
 

This year however, I am on a mission to work smart. Despite a few lapses, I have found that this method has been working. So far, so good. Cheers to me for keeping it together.

Think SMART. Act SMART.

 

Stumbling across tools which help productivity is a great way to add little changes to our lives. At the beginning of every year, we often find that we have so many goals which we would like to achieve.

Unfortunately, after the first couple of weeks or even after a month, we find ourselves in the exact same position.

So why do we fail?
We often fail because we do not set SMART goals. A SMART goal is a goal which is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. S.M.A.R.T!

As an example, I have a problem with drinking water. Fizzy drinks and juices are the preferred alternatives any day. However, there are so many reports, medical and otherwise, which show that drinking a minimum quantity of water is extremely beneficial towards our well-being.

Specific
So, specific would be to say: “Drink eight glasses of water every day” instead of “Drink more water”.

Measurable
In order to make my goal measurable, all I would need to do is to count (measure) the number of glasses I drink each day.

Attainable
Is my goal attainable? Yes. It is totally achievable; as opposed to say drinking eight glasses of water every minute of the day. (If you can do this…well, congratulations!).

Relevant

What about relevancy? I know that water improves the skin, is good for the digestive process and helps hydrate our hair from within. Definitely relevant!

Time-Bound

Now for the time-bound aspect, this means that the achievement of your goals should be tied to a specific time. In this case, that would be to drink water “on a daily basis”.

S.M.A.R.T

I find that when I model my goals in this manner, it is so much easier to achieve them.

Good luck with your goals.