Goal Setting

Being a new member some may not take these posts seriously, but I assure you, proper and realistic goal setting is the key to achieving success and also in maintaining success.

When I set goals, I like to make sure to incorporate “SMART” goals. I believe that everyone here is a way uses SMART goals, but if you don’t know what this type of goal setting is, it can be helpful in eliminating let-down by tempering expectations to be realistic. One can make one’s own ultimate goal - that is originally seemingly insurmountable - very realistic by breaking it into parts, or many short term goals, where the ultimate goal is the long term goal. If you didn’t realize, SMART is an acronym. The meaning is as follows:

S - Specific; Make sure that your goal has a specific point in which you mean to meet. This may seem obvious, but it is difficult to achieve something if you don’t know what that something is!
M - Measurable; Obviously since we’re dealing with increases in sizes, the measurement portion is integral.
A - Achievable; It is very difficult to achieve goals that are beyond your reach. This is the portion of goal setting that many struggle with. We all want to achieve unparalleled success, but by setting an unreachable goal, you set yourself up for failure.
R - Relevant; This is more geared towards keeping on track or on task with the “problem” or issue at hand. For example, in recovering from a knee surgery, a goal of improving your vision has little relevance to the specific criteria you set initially.
T - Time; This is tied closely with the achievable criterion. It would behoove me to set a realistic time-frame to meet my goal. This is an easy portion to set yourself up for failure. I couldn’t possibly achieve my goal in 24 hours.

Again, these are all very “common sense” to some, but to others creating the goal and start point is the hardest part. Let it be known that this very fundamental type of goal setting is used in many fields, businesses, medical fields among many other disciplines use this type of goal setting in order to take a stepping-stone approach to achieving greater and larger goals.

Good luck to everyone, just make sure you are SMART about your PE.

Cheers!