So many tips and resolutions are planned every new year to improve and achieve the goals. In the business world, annual plans get unfolded in the beginning of year, giving direction to the companies and employees. As consultants and business owners, keeping abreast of the latest in goal setting and achieving them is important.
Historically Introduced in 1981, The SMART criteria is a widely accepted strategic goal setting framework. The mnemonic SMART means the goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.
Whether you want to increase your sales, slim down or write a book, set goals using SMART method.
But, the question here is, is it even worth? Does having SMART goals means you will achieve great things in life? Do these SMART goals keep you cheerful and motivated throughout your endeavours? Do they actually contribute to your overall happiness as well as success? Or do you succeed at the cost of forgoing your own happiness by becoming so “outcome focused”?
The fact is, most of these SMART goals confine you. They push you into a mundane cycle of repetitive goals over and over again. When you’re earnestly thinking about what you want to achieve in life, you rarely have SMART goals in mind. In fact, seldom do people begin with SMART goals.
It will rather become mechanical if you take it too seriously in a way that you are planning to boost process A, by 20% and eliminate the 13% obstacles. This looks good on paper, but rarely does it interest you or others in real life. It is unexciting and doesn’t propel you to expand your horizons.
Thus, you can’t live on SMART goals alone. You set small and big goals every moment, without even being aware, because you need results. Like income is a result, not a process. Drink on your table is a result, not a process. So it becomes important to keep your SMART goals exciting, in good spirits and close to your heart.
Give S.M.A.R.T. Goals a “Human Touch” this Year
In the bestselling book “Hundred Percenters”, author Murphy comes up with a new kind of Goals, HARD Goals. By HARD it means Heartfelt, Animated, Required and Difficult.
So, how can you apply the principles of HARD goals in life? The answer is, by establishing the emotional connection between you and your goal. If you don’t feel it, it’s time to move on to a more significant Goal, one you can relate with most.
Applying the principle of HARD in your Goal setting means you will always choose the most relevant goals for your self.
When you have right goals you really enjoy life. You spend most of your life on your way to chasing something. Following the path you love means you will spend more time enjoying, even before you reach your goal.
- Heartfelt: If your goal is not on your priority list, if it is not something you deeply want, you probably won’t achieve it. Motivation comes from emotional excitement and a “heartfelt connection,” with your Goal.
- Animated: Seeing is believing. While setting Goals, use visualization, pictures to animate goals. Imagine how achieving the same will change your life for the better.
- Required: Human life is a continuous process and one time span to achieve a goal needs to blend into the next time-period and not be a full stop. Continuity is required to be embedded into the goals and not just crunched numbers and a timeline.
- Difficult: Those achievable and realistic goals don’t force you to leave your comfort zone and break new grounds. Unless your goals are challenging and unless your goals require your intense engagement you will not push the limits.
Are SMART goals incomplete without Human Touch?
Goals with numbers and timings are great and have served mega Corporations very well till now. With the advent of Innovation and culture taking back the control from mechanization and assembly lines, there is now a shift in the business world. More and more corporations are valuing Human capital over large economies of scale factories. Taylor’s work study for efficiency is now replaced by creative thinking with great culture at leading corporations in the world.
In keeping with these times, Consultant should now advise their clients to add the aroma of human touch and warmth into the cold SMART goals. Let the goals invoke the blessings of all your employees and be achieved.
