I think it’s time we had a long and frank conversation about what are called SMART goals.
I participate in productivity forums and self-improvement communities, so I must have heard hundreds of people talking about how great they are.
How they revolutionize goal setting.
And how if you use any other system, you are chaining yourself to a log stuck in rapids and you are heading for a waterfall.
In case you (somehow) haven’t come across this yet, SMART is an acronym that describes what every worthy goal is supposed to have. As I say, I’ve heard hundreds of people say this… and maybe three point out some of the obvious, glaring limitations.
You will never look at them the same way again.
No problem.
Consider a conversation between a SMART-loving trainer and a client who has never heard of them before…
~
Coach: I recommend setting SMART goals. You see, the S stands for “specific.”
Client: Okay, that makes sense. Better than a vague goal. So something like “I want to raise my salary to seven figures by the end of the year.”
Coach: Exactly! Now, the M stands for ‘measurable’, pretty self-explanatory. The A is standing-
Client: Wait… measurable?
Coach: Yes! If it’s not measurable, how do you know when you’re making progress?
Client: Sure… but we already have specific ones. Isn’t that redundant?
Coach: No, look, specific is about being clear with your goals. Measuring is about being about to quantify success.
Client: Right… but they are the same. Can something be measurable and not be specific?
Coach: Well… I… huh. Um… let’s get back to that. The A stands for ‘achievable’, or some people say ‘achievable’.
Client: Okay, great. That makes sense… and it doesn’t mean the same as the others, haha.
Coach: Yeah…and the R stands for ‘realistic’.
Customer:…oh, this is a joke! Oh well, you really had me going.
Coach: What? No, he’s not a… what?
Customer: ‘Achievable’ and ‘realistic’ are synonymous. They mean exactly the same. Let’s go to the fourth card and you’ve only said two things. What does T stand for? Totally doable? Strictly defined? This SMART goal thing is hilarious.
Coach: It’s ‘limited in time’… whatever, we’re done here.
~
Final stage…
Now, some people say that the R is ‘relevant’, which is a useful thing to add. Even if I did give you that one, most definitions I see say, in sheer thesaurus adoration, ‘realistic’, it doesn’t eliminate redundancy.
If your list of five things has an identical pair, let alone two, you might want to rethink your acronym.
But even if I forgive him…
“I’m going to do heroin by noon” is a perfectly valid SMART goal and a perfectly terrible idea. It’s specific, measurable, achievable/realistic (I guess? I have no idea how easy it is to get heroin. It shouldn’t be hard…) and it’s limited in time.
“I’m going to increase my vegetable intake by one serving a month, starting today” is also totally SMART, but so disappointing it’s not worth asking.
You can set SMART goals that are worthwhile… but don’t align with your life’s ambition. For example, you can use this framework to backstab people in their quest to make the world a better place. Or you may want to improve your health, so you smartly exercise five times a day until something breaks.
You can even set a SMART goal for something you’ve already done, just to feign a sense of progress.
And it gets worse. Nowhere in this cutesy little acronym is a measure of your emotional reaction or gut instinct. If you write this goal and every fiber of your being screams “no, don’t!”… too bad, slugger, because there’s nowhere to capture that.
Oh, and you can set yourself the goal of being a millionaire in a year…and do nothing about it for 11 months, then fight in a panic for the last one. SMART goals have zero responsibility, plan, or commitment built into them.
SMART goals are absolutely inadequate, redundant and barely useful.
Yet somehow everyone brags about them.
That’s why I prefer dumb targets. True to form, DUMBDUMB is an acronym. False to form, it is complete and not redundant.
Dis is for feasible. Is it realistic/attainable/attainable?
U is for Useful. Is it relevant? Does this goal really advance your vision?
M is for Measurable. It’s an important variable, even if I only include it once.
B is for beliefs and values. Does pursuing this goal conflict with the life you want to live? Is this the kind of goal you’ll be proud to have achieved, remembering it on your deathbed?
Dis is for Desire. Does the goal make you feel passionate and excited?
U is for undertake. How much time and effort is needed to achieve this goal? If it takes two hours a day, then you better schedule two hours a day right now.
M is for Powerful. Are you playing it safe or does your goal demand, challenge and grow you?
YB is for Time Limited, because one good thing about SMART goals is that they have a deadline.
There you go. A complete, useful and non-redundant system for goal creation. Use it and enjoy.