Are you tired of the same old, dry advice on setting goals that feels like a chore? Do you find yourself dreading those New Year's resolutions that you never seem to keep? Flashback to the goals you hoped to achieve this year. How many have you achieved or are in progress? Goals give you something to live for and get out of your bed each morning with clarity.
In this blog post you will learn:
📌How to set SMART GOALS
📌 Breaking Down Your Goals into Smaller Achievable Chunks.
📌 Creating a Timeline for your Goals.
How to set SMART Goals
S– Specific
M– Measurable
A– Achievable
R– Relevant
T– Time-bound
Let's start with "Specific". A specific goal is clear and well-defined, rather than vague or general.
For example, a vague goal might be "I want to improve my understanding of my spending habits." A specific version of that goal might be " Within 3 months, I will set up a YNAB account within one week, and then spend the next two weeks learning how to use it to understand my spending habits and improve on them.
Does that make sense?
Specificity can be broken down into five components: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. "Who" means identifying who is involved in achieving the goal.
For example, "I" is the person who is going to learn about his financial habits.
"What" means identifying the specific action that needs to be taken. In this case, the "what" is spending habits.
"When" refers to the deadline or time frame for the goal i.e. 3 months
"Where". "Where" refers to the location or environment where the goal will be achieved e.g. an application like YNAB– You Need A Budget App or Using a pen and paper.
"Why" refers to the purpose or motivation behind the goal. The "why" is important, because it helps to keep you motivated and focused on the goal i.e. financial literacy and freedom.
"How" refers to the steps or actions needed to achieve the goal. In the case of understanding my financial habits, the "how" might be setting aside a specific time each day to track my spending, installing a budget app or journal, or using a reminder to stay on track.
With all of those pieces in place, we've created a specific goal: "I will keep watch on my spending habits every day for the next 3 months on my YNAB app and a reminder to achieve better management of my finances."
That's a SMART goal! It's specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
M–Measurable means that you can track your progress and see how close you are to achieving your goal. Going back to our example goal of understanding spending habits, it's measurable because you can track how well you are doing using a budget tool.
Measuring your progress can help you stay motivated and focused.
Achievable means that the goal is challenging but still possible to accomplish. The goal of managing your spending habits is achievable because it's within your capabilities and doesn't require anything impossible or unreasonable.
An unachievable goal might be something like "not spending at all every day for the next year". Do you see the difference?
R–Relevant means that the goal is meaningful to you. For example, understanding how to manage your spending habits is relevant because it will help you reach your larger goal of taking control of your finances.
Relevance is important because it helps to keep you engaged and focused on the goal.
A time-bound goal has a specific deadline. In our example goal, "the 3 months" is the time-bound element.
Having a deadline helps to create a sense of urgency and focus.
Without a time-bound element, it's easy to put off working on your goal and never get around to it.
How do I break my big goals into smaller achievable chunks?
Breaking big goals into smaller, more manageable goals is key to success. It's called "chunking", and it makes big goals less overwhelming. Let's use the example of tracking your spending as an example.
A big goal might be to "track my spending every day for a year". But that's a lot to take on all at once! Instead, you could break it down into smaller goals like "track my spending for one week" or "track my spending for one month".
You could break your big goal of tracking your spending for a year into monthly goals. Each month, you could focus on a different aspect of your finances, like your grocery spending or your entertainment spending.
Or you could break it down even further, into weekly goals.
For example, you could focus on tracking your spending on weekdays, and then on weekends.
Or you could focus on tracking your spending in the morning, afternoon, and evening. By breaking it down into smaller goals, it becomes much more manageable.
You could use a spreadsheet, a budgeting app, or even a paper journal to track your progress.
The key is to find a system that works for you and that you can stick to.
How to Create a Timeline for My Goal?
Creating a timeline is a really important step in achieving your goal. It helps you break your goal down into smaller, more manageable steps and gives you a clear sense of when you'll achieve your goal. A timeline for this goal might look something like this:
- Week 1: Choose a budgeting app and set up your account. Enter your income and expenses for the past month.
- Week 2: Track your spending for one week.
The next step is to set up a system for tracking your progress and evaluating your results.
For example, you could set aside 10 minutes each day to review your spending and make any necessary adjustments.
Or you could set aside 30 minutes each week to review your spending and progress towards your goals.
This system of tracking and evaluating your progress is what will help you stay on track and reach your goal.
The last step in creating a timeline for your goal: celebrating your wins. When you reach a goal, no matter how small, it's important to take a moment to celebrate your success.
This will help you stay motivated and keep moving forward.
So, for example, if you reach your goal of reducing your food spending by 10%, you could treat yourself to a special meal or cook a favorite recipe.
Obstacles are a normal part of the process, and they're nothing to be ashamed of. It's important to be prepared for their m and have a plan for dealing with them.
Obstacles like forgetting to track your expenses, getting discouraged, or feeling like you are left behind.
There are ways to overcome your obstacles: set reminders on your phone, and celebrate every step no matter how small.
In conclusion, the major bridge between you and your goals is the process. Put in the work needed, utilize every step discussed, and see yourself smashing your goals.
