One of my biggest pet peeves, ever since I was a kid, was hearing my friends and family talking about goals, activities, projects, and such that they would love to do someday. Some required money, some did not. Someday, there would be a perfect day to get xyz done. Someday, they would win the lottery and be able to afford to go on some trip or to some restaurant.
This thought process absolutely drives me bonkers. First of all, it leads me to believe people that think that way feel that they have no power over controlling said events and they are just waiting for something outside of their control to line up for the event, project, purchase, etc. to happen. Then if said thing does happen after so long, it is often followed by disappointment because it was not all that they had built it up to be.
Since I was in high school, I have always been specific about my goals and the steps of how I wanted to achieve them. When I was a kid, I felt like there was so much that happened outside of my control that I wanted to take control of my own life when I could and not leave it up to destiny.
When I was a student mentor in a class called Springboard while working on my bachelor’s degree, I learned about S.M.A.R.T. goals. That lesson has stuck with me for over a decade now and I still make SMART goals today. What are SMART goals you ask?
“SMART is a mnemonic acronym with each letter giving criteria for setting objectives.” These were created by George Doran. S stands for specific, M for measurable, A for achievable, R for realistic, and T for timely.
Let’s say that you want to run a marathon in your lifetime. If you just add it to your bucket list, it is likely not to happen. Being able to run a marathon requires training and it’s not something that is likely to happen on accident. Now let’s make this into a smart goal:
Specific – You want to run the Flying Pig Marathon in 2022.
Measurable – You are going to start by running three miles per day, three times per week and will build your miles and days that you run as you go on
Achievable – This goal is achievable because you know that you can already two miles with no issue and will build from there, it is realistic to meet this goal if you start now because it is over two years away.
Timely – I want to be able to run 26.2 miles at the Flying Pig Marathon in May 2022 and complete the marathon.
Now please keep in mind that this was an example of how to apply SMART goals. I am not the end all and be all of information in regards to running. You get the idea, though. If we take a lofty goal and do not get specific with how to attain that goal, it is likely to happen. These same skills can be used in planning less significant events, such as going to a museum that you have always wanted to visit.
My point is, if something is important enough to you, make it happen. Figure out what the roadblocks are to reaching your goal, break them down, and get some help if you need to. Life is too short to be wishing and hoping that things will go your way. Make your goals happen now!
