A Life Coach’s Approach to Setting Effective SMART Goals with Dean Page – Part 3 SMART
- Sep 3, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 4, 2025
Setting goals isn’t just about aiming high; it’s about finding the balance between challenge and possibility. In this third part of the SMART Goals series, Certified Life Coach Dean Page explores what it means for a goal to be achievable and relevant. With practical examples, light-hearted humour, and thought-provoking coaching questions, Dean shows how to stretch without breaking, uncover the deeper “why” behind your ambitions, and transform the mundane into meaningful steps toward lasting success.
SMART Goals: Achievable
Are you setting goals out of reach or out of touch?
This can be an interesting area to develop. Taking a cue from the Michelangelo quote, “The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low, and we reach it.” And then contrasting it with the notion of the too high achiever who said, “I have a goal to stop being over ambitious. I hope to hit it by tomorrow.” The goals need to be challenging, rather than unattainable, they need to stretch without tearing, and they need to be out of immediate reach and yet still be within your own personal scope of possibility.
Distinguishing between doing the impossible and the impossible.
One of my favorite examples illustrating the difference between a life coaching approach and other approaches to goal setting is the case of someone having a goal of being a professional basketball point guard, a professional race car driver, or a professional wrestler, yet lacking the physical attributes or skill set necessary. The normal reaction is “get your head out of the clouds,” but here’s my take on that.
Regarding the goal of a 5’5” male wanting to be a professional basketball point guard. My approach would be to ask, “What is it that attracts you to being a point guard?” Perhaps the answer is that they run the team, anticipate what the defense is doing, and consequently determine the best play for that situation. They then set up and execute the play that puts the best person in the scenario in place to score. A follow-up question might be, “That sounds a lot like management. Are there management positions that would fulfill that skill set?”
The same goes for the race car driver who loves the fact that it’s a small team that works under high pressure, where every second counts. On the track, it’s only him competing with all the other drivers for 1st place. As a life coach, I might compare the skill set to sales or entrepreneurship and ask if any opportunities would translate into those skills.
Perhaps the wannabe pro wrestler loves the idea of designing a character, coming up with names for moves, and developing tag lines, “Brother!” The life coach in me may compare that with marketing and public relations and lead the client into a discussion regarding marketing as a possible field of fulfillment.
A wannabe basketball player, a race car driver, and a pro-wrestler walk into a bar.
A life coaching approach doesn’t look just at the “what” of being a point guard, race car driver, wrestler, but also the “why”. Perhaps there are keys hidden in the whys that will help the client to set goals that will fulfill their desires without being body slammed by a 300 lbs. alpha male. With a new view of the attraction of the goal that may motivate them, like the individual who declared that “I made it a goal to become a legal citizen of Finland. - And I am not going to quit until I am Finish!”
Some examples of life coaching questions could include, “What would it take to achieve this goal?” “What are the resources that you would need to achieve this goal?” “Do you have them or have access to obtain them?” “What are the attributes that you find appealing?”
SMART Goals: Relevant
Motivation to work the mundane to achieve the magnificent.
This encompasses two areas. One is the magnificent, and the other is mundane. First, let’s address the mundane. It is a simple fact of life that there are times when we must do things that we have no interest in doing, but nevertheless need to be done. I doubt that many people wake up on their birthdays with a joyous shout proclaiming that this month they get to register and inspect their vehicles! I can tell you that I can count on one hand the number of times that I heard someone really excited about taking the trash to the dump, doing the dishes, or the numerous other day-in-day-out errands and obligations. Although these things do need to get done, sometimes by placing the dullness of the boring under the light of the relevant helps. A classic example, and one that I unfortunately learned too late, was that if I saw that doing the dishes or cleaning the house was beyond the actual act itself but was also a way that I was helping my wife, then I might have seen it better and done a much better job at helping. Waiting in line to register our vehicles is certainly not exciting, but remembering that this experience now can lead to driving the car for enjoyment or family time helps to keep the level of frustration in check. Not to mention, the police rightfully frown on non-registered vehicles.
Why my goal of reading mathematics textbooks adds up.
Recently, someone said to me that they weren’t like me, that they don’t enjoy reading books like I do. That came as a surprise to me. They then explained that I was reading several books, so I must really like reading. The thing is, I’m not really someone who likes to curl up “with a good book” to escape into a written world of fiction. My relevant purpose is more about learning and discovering the material than it is about the act of reading. Where do you think so many of the quotes in this article came from? For me, reading books is about the content more than the reading process. For example, I have in my monthly planner to read a textbook on a specific category of mathematics for each month. The measurement is 12 textbooks, but the relevance is that mathematics is an area in which I want to improve in. As you set the needed mundane goals, think about how they relate to other goals that are more meaningful to you.
The dolphin’s ultimate goal in life is to find its porpoise!
The second category is the magnificent. Is it like a dolphin’s ultimate goal in life? - To find its porpoise! J.C. Penny is quoted as saying, “Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” Benjamin E. Ways reflected that “It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” I believe that making goals relevant helps in the discipline of the day in day-in-day-out action steps needed to achieve these goals.
When I was taking my life coaching certification course, the head instructor asked each one of us what our life coaching “niche” was. One stated working with police officers, another with mothers of special needs children, while another worked with divorced individuals. When it was my turn, I had no idea. Finally, my instructor asked me the million-dollar question. He asked if money was no issue, and I had so many clients that I couldn’t possibly take them all. Who would I take? That led to the realization that at my very core, I want to make a difference in the lives of others. More specifically, I want to help others overcome the obstacles that are hindering them in achieving their goals and building their legacy.
One-on-one life coaching, writing articles to encourage others, speaking before audiences, and recording podcast shows are things that I thoroughly enjoy and love. Having to do the “tech” side of editing, not so much. However, while my to-do list may say “edit podcasts”, it’s tied to something relevant to me, which is “Making a difference in the lives of others.” Seeing the magnificent in the mundane makes a difference for me.
Some life coaching questions could be: “If you were retired and writing your autobiography, how would this goal fit into your life’s story?” “What are some of the motivations that you can use to persevere when you are faced with obstacles in the fulfillment of this goal?” “ What would be most fulfilling to you if this goal were completed?”
Call to action
If you would like help in setting your SMART goals or have a specific category that you are struggling with, please set up an appointment with me through here. I would love the opportunity to work with you!
I help clients get perspective, reach their goals, and change their world. Maybe you could be next!
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