‘S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting’ Presentation
What is a Goal?
Dictionary.com defines the word goal in the following ways, as:
1. The result or achievement toward which effort is directed; an aim; an end.
2. The terminal point in a race. 3. A pole, line, or other marker by which
such a point is indicated. 4. An area, basket, cage, or other object
or structure toward or into which players of various games attempt to throw, carry,
kick, hit, or drive a ball, puck, etc., to score a point or points.
5. The act of throwing, carrying, kicking, driving, etc., a ball or puck into such an
area or object. And, 6. The score made by this act ("Goal,").
For our purposes this week, we are going to focus on the first definition provided above,
however, we aren’t going to completely ignore those definitions that focus on scoring goals
in athletic events.
Collectively, these definitions point to the various components that make up a goal.
First, the statement of it, or what the definition calls the aim: what is it you are trying to
do? As we’ll discuss latter in the presentation, goals are often out in the distance. You may
have goals or things that you want to accomplish today, however, I’m betting you have a least
one or two long-term goals as college students in this class: to graduate with an Associates
Degree and to transfer to another school in order to graduate with a Bachelors Degree
Author and essayist David Sedaris offers us this mental image of goal statements:
In order to get the things I want, it helps me to pretend I’m a figure in a daytime
drama: a schemer. Soap opera characters make emphatic pronouncements; they ball up their
fists and state their goals out loud: ‘I will destroy Buchanan Enterprises’ they
say; ‘Phoebe Wallingford will pay for what she’s done to our family’…(Sedaris,
2002, disc 3, track 8)
These are the types of goals statements we will focus on for this presentation and for
your journal assignment this week; those goal statements that make you stand-up, shake your
fist towards the sky and statement them out loud, with emphasis.
Second, the definitions above make reference to the actions involved in working towards
your goal, what the definition called the throwing, carrying, kicking, driving, etc.
I’m sure by now, many of you have felt how tiring college can be; like you’ve run a
marathon or just played hockey or soccer for hours without a break. It can be fatiguing
because there is a lot of work involved; perhaps steps that need to be broken down. More on
that point in just a few moments.
And finally, the definitions above talk about the achievement of the goal, what the definition
referred to as the score made by this act. How are you going to know when you’ve actually
gotten what it is you wanted in the first place?
In short, our class definition of a goal statement for this presentation involves you wanting
something, wanting it enough that you state this out-loud to yourself and perhaps others,
determine what actions are necessary to achieve what you want and how you will track your
progress.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Our definition provides us with a nice transition into talking about S.M.A.R.T. Goals. The acronym
S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
* S – Specific * M – Measurable
* A – Achievable * R – Relevant
* T – Trackable (Gillis, 1995, pp. 6-7)
Now, your instructor first learned about his acronym years ago while participating in a
workshop offered by Project Adventure; however, this acronym has been used in the business
world for years. According to Wikipedia, “the first known uses of the term occur in the
November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran ("Smart criteria," ). Now,
I’m not saying that this was or wasn’t the first known use, however, I have found
Doran’s 1981 article and the acronym does appear, meaning it has occurred in-print for
at least 29 years.
But, what does each part of this acronym mean.
The first word, Specific, means the difference between hitting the ‘bulls-eye’ in one
or two throws of a dart vs. hitting the bulls-eye because you used a machine gun and sprayed
the target. Can you communicate what your goal is in one or two sentences? If not, is
your goal too vague or are you talking about multiple goals? If your goal is too vague,
work on clarifying what you want to do; if you have multiple goals break them down into
smaller goals so that you can focus on each one.
Measurable speaks to the goal as a journey: making the trek from Point A to Point B. How
can you measure your journey: in miles, in semesters, in credits hours attempted and
completed. What your specific goal is will impact how you choose to measure it.
The word Achievable asks you to consider the following: Will I be able to complete my journey
and reach my destination? Is this something that you will be able to do? If yes, how will
you know you’ve achieved it? If no, what can you do to make your goal more attainable?
The word Relevant asks you to explain how this goal fits into what you want for the
rest of your life and within the other areas of your life. Ultimately, it’s about making
choices. For example, say you have the goal of wanting to own your own business before
the age of 30. Yet, you also have other goals: you want to travel the world, you want to
have a family and children and coach their sports teams or be a parent mentor or leader
in different groups or activities they are a part of. Having a family and being that
involved takes a lot of time, energy, and resources; so does traveling the world; and,
so does owning your own business by the time you are 30. Could you do it all successfully?
Have others? Sure. But, what this step in the process involves is having an honest conversation
with oneself about these exact questions. How do the various pieces of this goal and
other goals in your life fit together and how will you be able to make them work? Are
they congruent with each other?
Finally, Trackable asks you to come up with a way of keeping track of your progress. This
goes along with Measureable mentioned above. If you have determined that you can measure
your goal, how will you track your progress? If it’s in miles, I can keep track of how
many miles I’ve gone. If it’s in credits, I can track the number of credits I’ve taken
vs. the number I have yet to take.
Let’s practice on one of your instructors’ goals. Afterwards, I’ll provide you with
two case studies that you’ll use to answer Parts I and II of this weeks journal assignment.
Instructor Example
My goal is to run the Cape Cod Marathon. Let’s put this statement through the S.M.A.R.T.
criteria and see what we come up with.
Is my goal statement specific? Kinda, by reading it you know that I want to run the Cape Cod
Marathon but you don’t know when I intend to do so. This year, next year, before age
35? There are things I could do, such as stating when I intend to run the marathon, that would
make this statement more specific.
Is my goal measureable? Again, kinda. This goal could be measured by a simple yes or
no question: did I run the Cape Cod Marathon? As I’m running the actual marathon, I could
measure my progress with each mile or leg of the marathon. However, what happens if
I complete the marathon but, in the process, I walked at certain points in time? Can I
say that I ‘ran’ it? I may want to consider re-wording my goal to read: I will complete
the Cape Cod Marathon.
Is my goal achievable? Yes, people run marathons everyday. But, can I do it. Honestly, I can’t
remember the last time I ran for any long period of time. When I do find the time to
exercise, I ride a stationary bike. So, in the short-term, I’m not confident that I
can achieve this goal. However, as I think about this step in the process, I’m thinking
that I could break this goal down into smaller steps that lead up to completing the Cape
Cod Marathon. I could create a series of goals and put them through this same S.M.A.R.T.
process. These smaller goals could include walking around my neighborhood and creating
routes, buying a book about running, talking with other runners I know, specifically long-distance
runners for advice and tips, finding a training partner, actually running on a regular basis,
perhaps even competing in shorter 3k, 5k, 10k and half-marathons to work my way up to
the 26.2 mile Cape Cod Marathon.
Is my goal relevant? Yes, in fact it is part of a larger goal I have of living a healthy,
active life-style. However, have I taken into account the amount of time, any expenses associated
with training and competing in marathons, and if these activities will fit into other
aspects of my life? For example, right now, I’m not the most active person; certainly
I’m not as active as I want to be. There is a behavior that I need to change in order
to make this goal and my actual life congruent or in agreement with each other.
And, finally, is my goal trackable? Yes. As we’ve seen throughout the S.M.A.R.T. goal
setting process, there are a lot of ways in which I can track the long-term goal of completing
the Cape Cod Marathon and the smaller, shorter-term goals that I’ve developed to help me get
there.
Now that you’ve had some practice with me, I’m going to introduce you to two case studies,
one about Jimmy and another about Sarah. For your journal assignment this week, you’ll
put their goal statements and case studies through the same S.M.A.R.T. process as my
marathon example and then, you’ll pick your own goal statement and put that through the
S.M.A.R.T. process.
Case Study One: Jimmy
Jimmy wants to start his own personal chef business. He has been cooking for friends
and hosting parties for years, and everyone says he could do so professionally. He’s
even taken a few cooking classes at the local community college and recently catered his
sisters 30th birthday party.
Case Study Two: Sarah
Sarah wants to become an Adirondack 46-R, part of a group of people who have climbed
all 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Park. Sarah also wants to become a Winter 46-R,
part of an even smaller group of people who have climbed all 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack
Park during the winter.
Sarah has done some hiking in the Lake George Wilderness, the Catskills, and in the Green
Mountains of Vermont however, she has never hiked during the winter and has never done
a multi-day trip.
Quick Overview of Assignments
Week Five Journal Assignment
Based on the information provided in the presentation, you will submit the Week Five Journal Assignment.
The journal assignment will require you to comment on various aspects of the case study
examples provided in the vodcast. Put Jimmy and Sarah’s goal statements and cases through
the same S.M.A.R.T. process used above. Feel free to tweak or adjust Jimmy or Sarah’s
goal as you work through the case. There is no right or wrong answer, I’m interested
in how you apply the S.M.A.R.T. process and want to give you practice before using it
on yourself.
This week, you’ll be submitting your journal in a slightly different fashion. When you
click on the link for the ‘Week Five Journal Assignment’, you’ll see that I have divided
the assignment into three parts and have provided you with specific directions for completing
each part. As in previous weeks, I suggest you type your journal using a word processor,
save a copy to your computer or flash-drive and then copy and paste your responses into
ANGEL.
Additional instructions can be found within the ‘Week Five Journal Assignment’.
Week Five Discussion Forum
There will be no discussion forum as part of your Week Five assignments; therefore,
I will be awarding all students with the 10 points you would have received by participating
in the discussion this week.
We are not having a discussion forum for several reasons: first, I want to provide the class
with an opportunity to review their posts from the past five weeks and to keep those
conversations going. Second, I want the class to focus on the Week Five Journal Assignment
and dedicated the additional time to completing all three parts.
Due Dates
All assignments must be posted by midnight on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 to receive full
credit. All late submissions will receive 75% of the original points possible for the
assignment.
Remember, any late assignments must be submitted by Tuesday, November 16, 2010 in order to
receive any points. No late assignments will be accepted after midnight on Tuesday, November
16, 2010.
Contact Information
If you have any questions you can email me at martinj@sunyacc.edu
You can also post in the ‘Raise Your Hand’ Discussion Forum. This forum is located in
ANGEL and I encourage students to use this and to interact with one another. Get in the
habit of checking this discussion each time you access the course in ANGEL. You may be
able to answer your classmates question or provide insight or suggestions.
References
Doran, George T. (1981). There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives.
Management Review, 70(11), 35-36.
Gillis, H.L. (Ed.). (1995). Adventure based counseling: Workshop manual (2 ed.). Dubuque,
IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
Goal. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/goal
Sedaris, D. (2002). See you again yesterday. On Me Talk Pretty One Day [CD]. New York,
NY: Time Warner Audio Books.
Smart criteria. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria#cite_note-0