Reaching for the stars may be a bad idea – yes the goals you set should push the boundaries of your comfort zone but they shouldn’t be impossible. The A, in SMART Goals, represents attainable. When setting goals, be sure to choose an attainable goal – your goals should be within reasonable reach for you.
It becomes unproductive to put your time and energy toward a goal that will never come to fruition. You will end up losing motivation and feel like giving up if you aren’t able to succeed or celebrate your milestones along the way. Instead, be sure to set a goal that you can accomplish, this way you will keep focus and motivation, and have a chance of greater success. Along with your goal being unattainable, be sure that when you draft your goal, it’s written in a way that allows you responsibility for your goal. You should state your goals in a way that gives you control over the outcome. No one other than you should be the subject of your goal.
You should state attainable goals with success in mind. For example, let’s say you feel that you would benefit professionally from reading more books that pertain to your business. So, your goal might be, “I will read a business-related book every night before bed for 20 minutes, with my goal to be to read one business book per month, for 6 months.”
This goal is attainable because what you’re asking of yourself is reasonable and achievable. The goal also only involves one person, you, who follows through to ensure success.
Another way to assist attainable goals in being successful is through setting milestone goals. Milestone goals are small goals that you can set along the pathway to your goal. For example, in the instance above, a milestone goal could be to check in with yourself once a week. Checking in on your own accountability is a great way to stay on track.
If you have followed through with your goal for the week, in this case, read your business book for 20 minutes every evening, you will know you are making progress toward your goal. As we already know, tracking or measuring your progress helps secure a greater success rate for your goal.
Keep your goals challenging yet attainable and you will be on your way to being successful with your goals.
