Why Settle with SMART when your Goals can be SMARTER?

Written by: Alejandra Beatriz Marqués Méndez, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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Everyone wants to achieve their goals with ease, but somehow not everyone can do it. Why?

One of the main reasons is because of their mindset, and the other reason is that they’re not using the right system.

Here’s when SMART goals come into place.

What do SMART goals mean?

SMART stand for 5 main pillars your goals should be addressing:

1) S = Specific

2) M = Measurable

3) A = Attainable

4) R = Relevant

5) T = Time-bound

Specific:

The first thing you need to establish your goals and to reach them is to get very specific. What do you want, how do you want it, what do you need. The more specific, the better.

One of the number one mistakes when setting goals is remaining general. If you keep things vague, you will get vague results.

Measurable:

What’s not measured cannot be improved. The only way of knowing if you’re making any progress is by measuring it.

For example, using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will allow you to know if you’re hitting your target regularly.

Attainable:

Don’t get me wrong; I'm not talking about setting small goals so you can easily achieve them. But setting unattainable goals will only decrease your confidence; you might feel like you're not making any progress.

While having attainable goals will allow you to see progress, gain momentum, and you will feel unstoppable going after your dreams.

Relevant:

If the goal you’re setting does not support your vision, does not create any impact short or long term, then there is no point in going after it.

Establishing a relevant goal will keep you on the right track instead of walking around with a hundred “accomplished” things that don’t serve you at all.

Time-bound:

Not having a deadline equals not doing it. As simple as it sounds. What you don’t put a date on, you’ll keep postponing it.

I always help my clients set realistic deadlines because this is exactly what will drive them forward and stop procrastinating.

But why settle with SMART when you can be SMARTER?

There’s always a better way to do things, and I would love for you to start focusing equal attention on these two pillars that will make your goals go to the next level:

6) E = Evaluated

7) R = Rewarding

Evaluated:

The first thing I want to say is let’s not mix evaluation with measuring. You now know why you need to set measurable goals, but what I mean by evaluated goals is that you need to see what’s working and what’s not. The measures will help you do so.

To keep improving, you need to regularly evaluate what’s going on, double on things that are working well and pivot if needed.

Rewarding:

Last but not least, and this is one of the most important pillars: reward yourself.

People are so busy going after the next achievement that they forget to celebrate their wins, which is a huge mistake.

Wouldn’t it be nicer to celebrate every time you achieve something, no matter how small it is? Wouldn’t you feel more happy and ready to give your 100% because you see results?

I highly encourage all the readers to start rewarding themselves with something simple every time they achieve something. It could be daily, weekly, monthly, whatever you want it to be, and start noticing the changes around your life.

So now tell me, are you settling with SMART, or do you want to be SMARTER?

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin for more tips, or visit my website if you want to start achieving your goals with ease!

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Alejandra Beatriz Marqués Méndez, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Alejandra Marqués is a Time Management and Goal Achievement Mentor and an Accountability Advisor. By the age of 26, with over seven years of experience studying for two degrees: Law and Business Management (and graduating top of her class from both), working at the same time as a criminal law professor at University, in Law firms, notaries, research centers as project manager, and more..., and still have time to learn six languages (Spanish, English, French, German, Catalan, and Chinese), she is an expert when it comes to productivity and achieving goals. Her mission is to empower driven female entrepreneurs to accomplish in 2 months what without time management would take them over a year, get rid of procrastination, and create time for all the things they’ve been keeping in their bucket list their whole life, with her TIME signature method. She has been featured in many publications such as Medium, Authority Magazine, Morning Lazziness & more.