I participated in HPUD last month for the first time and again this month. In both posts, I mentioned setting SMART goals. I did not explain the concept as I figured it is often spoken about. However, when I mentioned it in the Neoxian City discord, it became clear that not everyone is familiar with the concept. I was encouraged by the questions of @burlarj to write this post.
To bring the concept to life and to keep it simple - I will use my own story as an example. You can focus on one of your own goals whilst reading.
My goal
I decided to power up monthly but also to set a goal of increasing my HP to 7,500 by December 31, 2023. Personally, participating in HPUD and setting goals publicly is a big deal for me. I am applying practices used offline - to my time on the Hive platform. Now that I've written my goals here - I am being more deliberate and trying harder to achieve them.
In our daily lives, we often set career, professional, health and other personal life goals.
What happens when we set goals:
Here are some of my thoughts:
- We clarify what it is that we want to achieve.
- We think with the end in mind.
- We become more focused on that one thing.
- We are deliberate as our goals are our guide.
- We take responsibility because we know that in order to achieve success we must “put in the work”- hence taking rightful action.
- We monitor our steps to achieve our goal.
- We have something to look forward to.
- We realize that we are masters of our own reality/fate.
5 birds on the beach
Now I will share the S.M.A.R.T. principle which will encompass the thoughts I shared. The 5 elements of the acronym S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Relevant, and Timely/Time-bound.
What are S.M.A.R.T. goals:
- Specific – goals must be clear and well defined. You know your specific desired outcome and the steps to achieve them.
- Measurable – determine a method of measuring your progress to track your actions. You will then know how close you are to your goal and also when it is met.
- Attainable/ Achievable – goals should be challenging but not out of reach. They should be “doable” but not be too easy so you will have a sense of accomplishment. As a result, you'll remain committed and enthusiastic about achieving them. Then there will be limited frustration.
- Relevant – goals should be fitting and contributing to with your desired outcome. They should be relevant and realistic.
- Timely/Time-bound - a deadline is needed for goals; irrespective of whether they are long or short-term. Goals should be accomplished within a certain defined period.
Thereafter, an evaluation can be done regarding success or failure.
Is my goal S.M.A.R.T.?
My SMART goal is to grow my HP to 7500 HP by December 31, 2023.
-- It is clear and specific.
-- It is measureable - there is a number and progress can be tracked monthly via https://hivestats.io/.
-- It is achievable - based on knowledge of my online availability to write - the goal is challenging but doable.
-- It is relevant - I want to grow my HP therefore setting this goal contributes to my overall growth.
-- It is time-bound - the deadline is 31 December 2023.
Some additional tips
- Write down the goals you want to achieve - this will make your SMART goals more real and powerful. Supposedly, we think 60,000-80,000 thoughts per day. Writing down your goals means you've made a selection from all those thoughts. It will also serve as a reminder.
- Write down the reason(s) why you set these goals - when you are lacking in motivation this list will be there to remind you about the benefits. It will also encourage you regarding why you started in the first place.
- Tell someone about your goal - this helps you to remain accountable. That person might monitor your progress - even by asking, "How is it going?". You will more likely remain committed.
- Make a plan - Establish the steps that you need to take to achieve your goal. Tick off the steps when you have accomplished them. It starts with the first step.
- Visualize yourself completing the goal - this will help you to remember why you set the goals. It will also help you to focus on the results and the benefits you will have when you have achieved your goal.
- Celebrate your accomplishments - enjoy the feeling of getting there. Celebrate! It does not matter if they're small or large achievements. This will boost your confidence and provide encouragement for future goal setting.
The photo is my own
Wowww, just wow
Momo, you did justice to this topic. I was thinking that I know all about smart goal until you opened my eyes deeper into it today. Special thanks to you @momogrow
This is super interesting and I am implementing it today today...not only writing my smart goals down but telling someone who will help me by asking how far I am going with my goals, with that , I will remain motivated until I achieve my set goals.. interesting 😍
Thanks for this
I got value 🤝
Aww thank you for your wonderful comment. I am happy that you received value from this post - I hope others do as well.
It is indeed good to have someone that check in on us. Sometimes when lacking in motivation - that could be all that is needed to kick start us again.
I love how you draft out to tactics on smart goal using yourself as an example. I have set goals that I did not succeed in achieving but with this I am sure to achieve my goals when I set them. Knowledge is key.
Thank you for sharing 🌸
Aww thanks for your kind comment. With SMART goals even if youwere not successful you can then revisit all 5 elements to determine what went wrong. Then you know how to proceed next time. Sometimes failure are lessons. Thereafter we can cahnge our approach. Please let me know how you manage after your success.
Sure I would make my goals following s.m.a.r.t goal, I would give you a review on how it's going.
There’s always something new to learn on Hive. I know about setting SMART goals already. Lol even taught it to newbies in the Newbies Initiative.
But the additional tips(which I subconsciously know but just have never thought out loud or put to practice) stands as that extra value I’m adding to my already formed knowledge of SMART goals. Thanks for those tips, MoMo:)
Aww thanks so much for your thoughtful and lovely comment. You are most welcome.
This indeed is the beauty of Hive - we can enhance our knowledge and even formulate things more formally that we already instincively know and understand.
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Thanks for blessing us with these awesome goal-setting tips.
I have come to realize that not all goals are achievable and it would only be a waste of time chasing after them.
Tracking goals is quite important because that's the only way we can be sure if we are making progress or not. Celebrating our win should encourage us to always go for me, cheers to a beautiful week.
Thanks for confirming some of these principles.
Have a great weekend as well.
Slow and steady wins the race!
Absolutely - no lofty goals just challenging and hopefully reachable ones.
Getting to 3023 is a lofty goal indeed🙃 but perhaps they'll invent a time machine.
I left u another comment - fixed - thank you. 😄
That is indeed really slow. I could use a team machine but the goal would not be too challenging then.
haha - thank u.
That is really slow. lol
There was a time when I did not take writing down goals seriously but I tried it one time and it worked. Since then, I've been used to it
I hope you achieve your goals and congratulations to you on your first power up
Thank you @rafzat.
I totally understand what you mean. There is too much going on in our lives and in our head so we need to make it concrete by writing it down.
Using my own example - I have not been deliberate about my Hive goals. My offline life did not change but since I did HPUD and stated my goal - I am trying my very best to achieve them.
This is brilliant momo and i realized that i am doing everything just didn't give it a meaning S.M.A.R.T...
i write down my goals as it inspires me and i also make plans on how to achieve them, for example the hpud is a way of telling others about my goals and i do celebrate it in the city whenever i hit a milestone....
Aww @burlarj - it is good to know that you have SMART goals. It make sense as you are doing very well indeed.
SMART is a nice way of guiding and formalising things and a way to ensure that one is on the right track and remain accountable. I will look forward to celebrating your next milestone.
thanks, another stone to be turned soon lol
😀
This is a wonderful piece.
Easy to memorize and apply.
Thanks for sharing ❤️
You are most welcome. I am happy you get value from it.