Today we are talking about identifying goals. In many ways I covered that a few weeks ago when we discussed setting goals. For a quick recap, when you set a goal, you need to make sure it meets the SMART goal framework. This acronym stands for smart, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. If your goal does not satisfy those categories, then it needs to be given more thought.
For many, the goal will meet most of the categories, but ignore one category like, “time-bound.” When reviewing student goals, this category is often overlooked. This is arguably the most important part because it determines the finish line. It states whether this goal should be finished in six months or six years. Not determining a clear deadline for meeting your goals will allow you to get lazy about making progress.
So, what happens if you are sitting there with the SMART goal categories in front of you, but you can’t think of a goal? Maybe the specificity overwhelms you, or maybe you are putting too much pressure on coming up with a really good goal. A lot of times people give up at this stage because of reasons like fear of failure or negative self-talk. Others choose to make a big, non-specific, somewhat unattainable goal (think New Year’s Resolutions) that they end up ditching in a week or two. So how do we get past this writer's block and set meaningful goals for ourselves?
The first thing you can do if you are new to goal setting is to start small. Don’t make your first goal a life-changing, career-altering, totally transformative beast of a goal. Start with something you can attain with small changes in a short period of time. Good goals for your first time would be things like, “for the month of December, I would like to have no more than one soda a day.” Or, “until Christmas break, I’m going to stay twice a week for study hall to receive math tutoring.” Setting and fulfilling goals of this nature will help build your confidence and momentum to achieve harder or more long-term goals.
Once you have conquered a few of these “bunny slope” goals, it’s time to move on to rougher terrain. If you still aren’t sure about what your big goal should be, take some ideas to the drawing board. One exercise that you can do is to make a vision board. You can do this online, or you can make a real one to display around your house. This board should include images, quotes, ideas, etc. that inspire you or portray something you would like to achieve or acquire in the future. Once you are finished, look at the type of things on your board and think about how you could achieve them.
For instance, I made a vision board in 2019 that had things about savings, finding happiness, building my physical strength, etc. After identifying those categories as things that are important to me, I was able to look at ways that I could work towards these things. One easy thing I did right away was to set up an automatic weekly transfer or $20 from my checking account to my savings account. While this doesn’t sound like a ton of money, it was realistic in my budget at the time, and I was able to supplement it with other savings throughout the month. That automatic transfer was a great way to kickstart that goal.
Another way to help set goals is to look at someone who has what you want and figure out how he got there. If you have a specific career in mind, find someone who has that job and figure out the steps he took to get it. If it is not easy to ascertain from something public like a LinkedIn profile, then reach out to that person and ask him if he would be willing to do an informational interview. Many people are willing to grab a cup of coffee and answer questions you have about their role. It’s also a great way to network and build your connections.
This year has been rough in many ways. I believe that 2021’s New Year’s Resolutions have the potential to be more influential than ever. Even if you are not someone who believes in resolutions, take the fresh start of the new year to sit down and come up with some actionable goals for yourself. No more delaying or hesitating; now is the time to work on ourselves. We have six weeks until 2021. Take this week to reflect on what you are thankful for, and the next week to determine ways you can grow in the new year.
- Bria