Bottom Line, Inc.
Individual Contributor - Participant’s Workbook
SMART GOALS Alignment Exercise
A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To
set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:
S
pecific
Who:
What:
Where:
When:
Which:
Why:
Who is involved?
What do I want to accomplish?
Identify a location.
Establish a time frame.
Identify requirements and constraints.
Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you
set.
M
easurable
When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and
experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort
required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……
How much? / How many? / How will I know when it is accomplished?
When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you
can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial
capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring
yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
A
ttainable
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time
frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and
out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals
shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you
build your self-image.
To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and
able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide
just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial
progress.
R
ealistic
A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low
motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy
simply because they were a labor of love.
T
A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no
sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs., when do you want to lose it by? “Someday”
won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May 1st”, then you’ve set your
unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished.
imely
T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of
the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing.
When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable
and thus attainable.
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