SMART Goals – What are SMART Goals?

Posted: July 1st, 2009 | Author: Cory Schop | Filed under: Smart Goals | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments »
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Smart Goals

Teacher Stephanie instructed us to jot down at least five of our goals for the next five years. After which, she requested us to evaluate each of our goals if it was ’smart’.

Hold your horses, smart goals? What the heck are they?

And as if she saw right through that big question mark on my face, Teacher Stephanie began explaining about SMART goals:


• Smart goal is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goals.

• Specific. Your goal must be detailed. You must know the Who, What, Where, When, Which and Why of your goal.



• Measurable. Your progress in your goal attainment must be concretely measured. When progress is measured, one stays on track. And as you reach your target dates, the bliss you experience will motivate you to work harder to achieve your goals.

• Attainable. Identify goals important to you. This way you can figure out strategies to achieve them. Plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame. Goals need to stretch you a little so that you will have real commitment to them.

• Realistic. Goals ought to represent an objective you are WILLING and ABLE to do. No, realistic here is not synonymous to easy but rather to ‘doable’. Aim high, but make sure you have the right attitude and skills to reach big goals. Always having small goals is not exactly advisable either as they limit your potential. A realistic goal pushes and stretches the individual, but it does not break him.


• Timely. A goal should be anchored on a time frame—otherwise there is no urgency in accomplishing it.

After learning about smart goals, we evaluated our own goals. Most of us, myself include, found out that our goals had tidbits of the elements composing smart goals but not all of them. And, as what Teacher Stephanie said, “Make the necessary changes to make your goals smart”. I will.

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13 Comments on “SMART Goals – What are SMART Goals?”

  1. 1 Marvin Gayle said at 10:49 pm on August 13th, 2009:

    Thanks for the post. It’s not enough to just have goals. We must have SMART GOALS or else we’ll just be going ’round circles—and that, for me, defeats the purpose of having goals.

  2. 2 analyn said at 9:47 pm on August 14th, 2009:

    “Often, SMART goals are the “big, hairy audacious, critical-few” goals that need to be worked on (The Most Important Ones!).”
    I agree with this one. Whereas goal setting is indispensable in so far as the quest for success is concerned, goals need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound so that you will stay focused and on the right track. If otherwise, the whole goal setting thing will backfire on you (rather than egging you on forward, non-smart goals will hold you back).

  3. 3 rodrigo said at 9:43 pm on August 15th, 2009:

    Great post! Indeed we need to have goals. But not just ordinary goals. We need SMART goals-specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound.

  4. 4 R. Whitney said at 2:40 am on August 16th, 2009:

    Thanks for the tips on how to make smart goals!!! Cool !

  5. 5 Dream Setting – Go for Your Dream said at 9:43 am on November 12th, 2010:

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  6. 6 How To Set And Achieve A Goal said at 10:38 am on November 23rd, 2010:

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  7. 7 How To Set And Achieve A Goal | Programming The Mind said at 11:11 am on July 16th, 2011:

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  9. 9 Educational Smart Goals – How Can Students Make Their Goals Smart? | Programming The Mind said at 7:33 am on July 17th, 2011:

    [...] Erika knows about educational smart goals. Just an FYI, SMART goal is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound goals. Here are a few [...]

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