Setting Specific, measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound (SMART) Goals and Expected Outputs

     Have you ever felt confused about your goals or wondered what they are? Goals are things you want to achieve or accomplish in your life, and they can have a long-lasting impact on us. To help us achieve our goals, it’s important to use the SMART method: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. According to Boogaard (2021), using SMART helps eliminate generalization and gut feelings, create a clear timeline, and make it easier to monitor progress and identify missing elements in our goals.

     To make sure our goals are specific and clear, we should answer the five “W” questions. For example, instead of having a general goal like “finish my assignment,” a specific goal would be “I want to work on my assignment at the library tomorrow so that I can submit it early.” Measuring our progress helps us stay motivated and on track. It’s also important to make sure our goals are authentic, achievable and challenging, but not impossible to achieve. 

     It’s crucial to set a deadline for our goals, so we can stay focused and avoid last-minute stress. However, it’s essential to note that some SMART interpretations may not be clear to others and individuals can put themselves in disappointment by setting unclear goals. By using the SMART method, our goals become more realistic and achievable, giving us direction and helping us to organize our goals to become successful.

– Clarence Montero, SHS