I have this poster hanging in my house to serve as a daily reminder.
So I’ve convinced you that goal writing has benefits? So you are going to take action and write them down. But, how do you write them down?
Make your goals SMART.
S-specific
M-measurable
A-attainable
R-relevant
T-timely
For instance, if one of your goals is to make more money, you should not simply write “I want to make more money.” Written that way, your goal is not specific, measurable, or timely.
If you want the universe help you, you need to clearly state your desires. For instance, a better way to quantify “more money” from the same example above would be “By the beginning of 2017, I will be making at least $100,000.”
In this above example, you followed the SMART format. That is:
- You have a specific goal, in that you want to make specifically make at least $100,000 by the beginning of 2017.
- Your goal is measurable; you will be able to determine if you are actually earning $100,000 at the beginning of 2017.
- Your goal is attainable; as if you are willing to work hard and have in demand skill or sell an in demand product, the six figure goal should be possible.
- Your goal is relevant if you ranked financial security as important.
- You were timely when you gave the beginning of 2017 as a specific timetable.
When I have written goals, I find that SMART goals are more valuable than non SMART goals.
In the seminal book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill discusses the importance of being specific when trying to manifest money. (SIDE NOTE: If you haven’t read this book yet, READ IT! It contains important information regarding personal finance and mindset.) In fact, he suggests making a specific and detailed goal just as I did above.
But, Hill makes realistic and effective suggestions that go beyond writing the goal. That is, once you determine your SMART goal, you must then devise a plan to attain it.
That is, the goal is not the end game. While you need to specifically tell the universe what you want, you can’t realistically think that Ed McMann will show up at your door with a Publisher’s Clearinghouse check, can you? Of course, not!
As Paula Coehlo said in The Alchemist, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” However, the keyword here is helping. You must specifically ask for what you want, and then you must devise a strategy to get it.
Finally, you must keep the goal in the forefront of your mind. In Think and Grow Rich, Hill said that you must read your written goal aloud twice a day, one in the morning when you wake up and once at night before you go to sleep. The rationale for this, Hill explained, is that when you hear and see the goal, you should start to believe that it is attainable. In other words, a lot of what we achieve is based on our mindset related to what we can achieve. Believe you can, and it is likely that you will. Believe that you can’t, and it is almost guaranteed that you won’t.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a strong financial goal. This same strategy will work for any goal.
Please try writing some SMART, and comment in our Facebook group as to how it worked for you. I would love to hear your successes, and help you work through your struggles.
Stay tuned, our next post in this series will discuss tools to help keep you focused on your goals.
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