What is a SMART goal and why your goal needs to be smart as a student?

How often have you set a goal and ended up on the losing side? You set a goal with a lot of enthusiasm but lost track after some time. Maybe every time this happens or your success rate is very low. To avoid this you need a SMART goal in life.

I remember last year I set a goal to get in shape, I work very hard but only after a week, i quitted. The biggest reason I feel today is that my goal is not a SMART goal.

Maybe I didn’t understand the importance of SMART goals at that time. but with my experiences, I will help you to make your goal a SMART goal.

First, we understand what is a SMART goal?

Understand the SMART goal

Goals are crucial in every aspect of life, be it office or home, life or relationship. We set a goal in every related field of life. To achieve the goal with more accuracy, George T. Doran and his team introduce the concept of SMART goals.

SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

Each word means

Specific – Before setting a goal ask yourself some questions, What, Why, When, and Who.

Measurable – Your could break your goal into small parts and measure your progress.

Achievable- Your goal should not be an impossible task to do.

Relevant– it is relevant to your life and the resources that you have.

Timely– The goal should be bound to a specific time.

How to be SMART while setting a goal?

Goals give you a continuous sense of motivation, clear your life path, improve your decision-making ability, and most important give meaning to your life. If your goal is not SMART you may lose somewhere in the journey.

To achieve a goal you need to be smart and the journey starts with a SMART goal.

S for Specific in SMART goals meaning

Your goal should be specific not just a dream from your wish list. Sometimes I have seen people say that I have a goal to be a millionaire but not specific with this goal. Before setting a goal answer some questions–

What do you want to achieve?
Why do you want this to achieve in life? or what is the motive behind this goal?
How badly do you want to achieve this?
When do you do this?
Who is involved in your goals?
What resources do you need to achieve this?
Which limits do you need to cross?
Are you really want to achieve this?

By answering this question you become eligible to set a goal. It is the first step to writing your goal on paper. This will help you stay motivated, this will help you to stand when you fall.

What happens if your goal is not specific?

Suppose you want to be a doctor in life but if you don’t know ‘why you want, what you want, how you will accomplish your goal, what resources you needed, or what hurdle you need to cross, there are no benefits to set a goal. If you don’t know why you need to be a Doctor, you may start chasing other dreams. If you don’t know how and what you may end up on the losing side.

But having uncertainty about these questions, and may result to choose another goal when another goal seems easier or shinier.

When you know the answer to this question, you could choose your subject in school life, you could focus on your important subject, and you have more clarity when you need to choose a stream in College. You will be motivated every time you fall.

M for Measurable in SMART goals meaning

Your goal will be SMART if it could break into a small actionable step. Measurable goals are essential to staying motivated every time, it is more important to know whether you are on the right path or not. To check whether your goal is measurable or not answer the following question.

Your goal should be breakable in small steps.
Do you have a surety of how much you need to achieve? and
How many steps did you need to accomplish your goal?
How will you know when you achieved your goal?

By finding the answer to these questions, you make the blueprint of your goal to achieve. Now your dream seems more real because it has some breakable point to achieve.

What happens when your goal is not measurable?

If your goal is not measurable, you never know what to do next. Suppose you want to put on weight, but don’t set how much weight you need to gain, and don’t measure your weight on a weighing machine. You can’t set a proper diet, don’t know where to stop, and you never know whether your progress is positive or not. Maybe you feel the weight but never know how much you gained if you never measure.

Otherwise, you set a goal like that you need to put 4kgs weight during the next 4 weeks. it could simply as you need to put 1 kg per week and you could plan your diet easily to get the result.

A for Achievable in SMART goals meaning

Sometimes A for Actionable is applied in some conditions but what George T Doran is introduced in the SMART goal concept that A for is Achievable. The goals that you should set for yourself are achievable.

Something that is realistic to achievable not an impossible task to do. Here we don’t want to down your morale But lifting an Elephant by hand maybe not be possible. It is true you could achieve whatever you want but everything has a limit(human limit).

Before setting a goal you should ask some questions to yourself–

Is your goal possible to achieve?
Is someone achieved this before or someone has achieved a similar type of goal?
Is your goal could break into some actionable steps?
Could you make a plan to achieve this?

What happens when your goal is not Achievable?

If your goal is not achievable it may disappoint you. It may down your self-confidence and self-esteem. it may give you a feeling of uselessness. Set a goal that is realistic to you, maybe something you make a plan for it.

There is no bad thing to set a bigger goal but try to remember the thin line between hard and impossible. You may set that you will earn big in this month but you can’t set things like a millionaire by a week.

R for Relevant in SMART goals meaning

The goals that you set for yourself should be relevant to you. That means your outcome of goals didn’t depend on others’ approaches or outcomes. Your goal should be related to you, your goal should give benefit you. Your goal is related to your work or job, something that is relevant to you in each perspective.

Before setting a goal check them it is relevant to you

Is reaching the goal will be beneficial for you?
What do you do if you achieve this goal?
Is this goal relevant to your field?
Is your goal require others’ hard work to achieve?
What skills and resources are related to your goals?

What happens when your goal is not relevant?

Suppose you are a sports person and play a team game. You set a goal that you will definitely win the world cup this year but wait it is only possible when the whole squad has the same goal to win. Your goal is relevant to you, you could set that your performance will be the best this time, and you will inspire each and every member to win.

You only change the thing that is totally in your control, you could not set a goal that is irrelevant to you. You can’t achieve a goal if the outcome of your goal didn’t affect your life, you never achieve a goal if the goal is irrelevant to you.

T for Time-bound in SMART goals meaning

The most important factor while setting a goal is to bound your goal in time. The chance of achieving your specific, measurable, actionable, and relevant will increase if you bound your goal in time. Time-bound help you in time management and preserve you from the distractions of life.

Not having a deadline you will start working from tomorrow, means you didn’t achieve anything today. This leads to procrastination and you are lost somewhere on the track.

Before setting a goal you should ask some questions to yourself–

Is your goal have a deadline?
How much time it will take to achieve?
In what cases you could stretch your deadline?

What happens When your goal is not Time-bound

You remember that your set a goal that you will start workout for a healthy mind and body and you didn’t start working on it because your goal is not time-bound. Before setting a goal, you should make sure that your goal has a deadline otherwise you may end up on the losing side.

List of all questions to check whether your goal is SMART or not?

What do you want to achieve?
Why do you want this to achieve in life? or what is the motive behind this goal?
How badly do you want to achieve this?
When do you do this?
Who is involved in your goals?
What resources do you need to achieve this?
Which limits do you need to cross?
Are you really want to achieve this?

Your goal should be breakable in small steps.
Do you have a surety of how much you need to achieve? and
How many steps did you need to accomplish your goal?
How will you know when you achieved your goal?

Is your goal possible to achieve?
Is someone achieved this before or someone has achieved a similar type of goal?
Is your goal could break into some actionable steps?
Could you make a plan to achieve this?

Is reaching the goal will be beneficial for you?
What do you do if you achieve this goal?
Is this goal relevant to your field?
Is your goal require others’ hard work to achieve?
What skills and resources are related to your goals?

Is your goal have a deadline?
How much time it will take to achieve?
In what cases you could stretch your deadline?

Why do students need to set a SMART goal?

When a student set a SMART goal, it helps them be accountable for every action or step they take. A student with a SMART goal could manage his/her time properly, could set a momentum of work, and could preserve from social anxiety.

A SMART goal helps a student taking a life decision easily maybe he/she feels low but every time they are on the right track in life. Setting a SMART goal makes them smart in each perspective of life.

At a glance

If you are able to answer 90% of this question, then you will eligible to set a SMART goal in life. By answering these questions, you create a path for your goal, in other words, you create a plan to achieve your goals.

The concept of the SMART goal is most helpful for the student, its features help you to stop procrastination, grow your time management skill, motivate you every time, help you to stay away from distraction, and most importantly grow your ability to make decisions in life.

Related: How to achieve goals in life