SMART Goals
The Art of Writing SMART Goals
Unlock the full potential of your vision by mastering the skill of writing SMART goals.
With each goal you create, you'll be one step closer to living the dream you've envisioned.
Let's get started.
We’ve spent the last two weeks talking about the importance of creating a vision statement.
Now, we’ll take the next step in the process, developing goals.
Before we do, we need to talk about how to think about and write your goals.
In my corporate life, we each had a professional development plan, which was the roadmap to career growth and defined the actions needed to achieve our goals.
Whether the goal was to develop a new skill, shore up a gap, or seek a new role, each one was broken down into simple steps that helped us succeed.
Important side note: Development plans are a best practice for all businesses, practice owners, and those that lead people, because it’s a very effective way to engage, retain, and grow your team. Please email me if you want to know more.
I’ve had the privilege of coaching numerous leaders through this process and have been through it many times myself.
I’ve learned that writing an effective goal is harder than it seems.
As an example, I’ll tell you about Dr. Jen, who wanted to improve her surgical skills.
Her development plan was written like this:
Goal: “Improve surgical skills.”
Plan: “Do more surgery. Attend a surgical wet lab.”
Do you think Dr. Jen will succeed?
Maybe, but I’m not so sure, and here’s why.
First, I don’t know what “improve surgical skills” means.
How would Dr. Jen and I know she’s doing it? What will success look like?
Next, what does “do more surgery” mean? '
Is it any surgery, or certain types of surgery?
Is it more per week or per day?
I also don’t know why she’s doing it.
Is it because she loves surgery and wants to do more, or is it because she is uncomfortable with it and wants more knowledge, practice, and confidence? '
Is she motivated? (This takes us back to the visioning discussion.)
In summary, I’m not sure Dr. Jen is clear on what this means, so it will be harder to accomplish, and I won’t know how to support her since I’m also not clear on what she’s doing.
By helping her rewrite her goals, I knew she’d be more likely to achieve them, so I walked her through the process of writing SMART goals.
Transforming Visions into Tangible Realities
A SMART goal is basically a goal that's clear and focused.
It helps you know exactly where you're going and how to get there, all while keeping you motivated and on track.
It’s crafted in a way that makes it easy to understand, plan, and achieve the desired outcome within a specific timeframe.
SMART is just an acronym:
Specific: Your goal should be clear, concise, and well-defined.
Measurable: You should be able to track and quantify your progress towards the goal. Sometimes that’s with metrics and sometimes it’s tracked by checking the box that a task was completed.
Achievable: The goal should be realistic and attainable within your current resources and constraints.
Relevant: The goal should align with your overall objectives and be meaningful to you.
Time-bound: There should be a specific deadline or timeframe for achieving the goal. This is where the rubber meets the road because the clock is ticking.
Seems easy right?
But often it’s not, so you must focus on the task of writing a good SMART goal.
Here are some of the challenges:
Be specific enough:
It can be tough to make the goal crystal clear.
You might struggle with pinpointing exactly what you want to achieve.
The trick is to get VERY specific and simple.
You can always change it after you tackle the first task.
Set Measurable Targets:
Sometimes it's tricky to find the right metrics or milestones to track your progress.
Figure out how to measure your success in a meaningful way.
Ensure Goals are Achievable: '
Be honest about what’s possible in your current state.
As an example, don’t say you’re going to work out every single day when you’re struggling to do one workout in a month.
Keep Goals Relevant:
As priorities shift, it's a challenge to keep your goals aligned with the big picture.
You will need to regularly reassess and adjust your goals to keep them relevant.
Define Time-bounds:
Estimating how long it will take to achieve a goal can be difficult, especially if it's a complex or long-term project.
You must be realistic about timelines and build in some flexibility for unexpected obstacles.
Making Goals Inspiring: '
Sometimes SMART goals feel a bit dry and technical.
Find ways to connect them to your larger sense of purpose (your vision) and make them emotionally engaging, so you stay motivated even when the going gets tough.
Forgetting Them: '
Keep your goals top-of-mind and under your nose.
Once you write them, if you bury them in a file or a drawer, you’ll forget all about them.
Be sure to keep them visible, present, and easy to reference.
And that’s how it goes.
It’s a valuable process that creates powerful, meaningful goals, and is totally worth it.
What’s also great is that these are YOUR goals, and you can adjust them as you see fit.
To make them even better, ask someone for feedback so you can hone them to be the most effective goals possible.
Dr. Jen’s surgical goals lacked many of these points.
Keeping this in mind, here is how I helped her rewrite her goals:
General Goal:
“Improve my comfort and confidence with soft tissue surgeries such as spays and cystotomies.”
S: “Shadow Dr. Brent when he does spays and cystotomies and have him shadow me for the next month.
Schedule spays every surgical shift I work, instead of referring to Dr. Brent, and schedule my first cystotomy for shadowing.
Participate in a soft-tissue wet lab this summer at the VMA conference.”
M: “Increase spays from 0 to 4 per month. Increase cystotomies from 0 – 1 per quarter.
Attend wet lab.”
A: “Yes, this is achievable.
I have the resources, time, and scheduling capacity to do this.
My employer will cover the cost of the lab and give me time off to attend.”
R: “This is realistic because it aligns with my vision of increasing surgical confidence.”
T: “My timeline is to start the plan next month and reach my goals in the next three months.”
As you can tell, it took much more time to write this than the original goal, but it’s also so very clear that Dr. Jen knows exactly what she’s doing and how to execute.
She knows how to measure progress, and she knows her timeline.
Those involved, like Dr. Brent, know how to support her.
Lastly, and most importantly, she knows what success looks like.
Setting SMART goals is a crucial step that turns your vision into reality.
By crafting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound, you create a clear roadmap towards your desired vision.
So, whether you're a veterinary practice owner, a leader, or simply someone with a dream, embrace the power of SMART goals and watch as your vision becomes your reality, one strategic step at a time.
Now that you know how to write a goal, we’re going to put that skill to the test as we take the next step on our journey into long- and short-term goal setting.
Follow me to next week’s blog to learn more and download the visioning process workbook which will help you document your efforts.
Best wishes on this visioning journey and we’ll see you next time.
