S.M.A.R.T. goals NOT so smart?

We all heard about the importance of setting S.M.A.R.T goals! Our goals need to be specific, measurable, achievable, result- oriented and time bound. Whilst it might work really well for some, and there might be some truth in it, there is no "one size fits all"! 

We are all different. We have different ways of working, planning, we have different things that motivate and excite us, and our own unique way of achieving what we want. 

As an ambitious and determined woman, there was nothing I wanted more in my life and career than to be successful. But for some reason S.M.A.R.T. goals never worked for me. Whether it was at work, or in personal life, it was never something that excited me and believe me, I tried really hard :). I was dreading the process and after I managed to finally set S.M.A.R.T. goals, I definitely wasn't inspired to action.

It wasn't until I came across Brendon Burchard and his idea of D.U.M.B. goals- yes, dumb😃. It has changed my life!! If you haven't heard about Brendon , you have to check him out! Follow his YouTube channel- I have learnt so much from him over the years! 

According to Brendon, there is one fundamental flaw with S.M.A.R.T. goals and the reason why 97% of people fail to achieve them-  those specific and achievable goals actually don't inspire us to action! 

If you have struggled with setting and achieving your goals, try the D.U.M.B. goal setting technique and I hope it will help you as much as it did help me! According to Brendon, our goals should be: 

DREAM - DRIVEN- yes, let's dream again! What is that we want our life to look like? What is our vision for life?. Goals should support our exciting, long -term vision. We dont have to know exactly how to make our vision happen, but our goal might be the first step to achieve it. If one of your goals is to make change in your career, ask yourself these questions first: What would your dream job be? What difference do you want to make in this world? What skills do you need to learn  and develop to get where you want to be in life? 

Everything that is amazing in this world have started with a dream 😃 

UPLIFTING - goals should inspire and excite us! Goals should be so exciting we jump out of bed and can't wait to chase them ( or at least get us out of bed ;)). There is no point of setting a goal  to "change a job", or "loose 5 pounds". Does it inspire you to action? NO. Use more positive language, think of results that you would achieve and how it would make you feel. You might want to find a job where each day is different and exciting, where your efforts are noticed and rewarded, where you work with a great team of people who make your time at work fun! See the difference? 

METHOD- FRIENDLY- if we want to achieve something, we need to develop a method, practice  on how to do it and we must ENJOY IT! Wouldn’t you agree that we achieve goals when we genuinely enjoy actions that lead us to it? I am sure you've never complained that you had to research a lot of websites and it was time consuming when organising your dream holiday! Yes, majority of times, we need to put in a lot of  hard work, but we can tweak it to make it more pleasurable. So if achieving your goal involve some hard tasks, think how can you reward yourself for doing it, what you can do after that you will really enjoy? It might be your favourite cup of coffee or planning holidays, or exciting weekend with friends.

The more we enjoy something, the more we do it! 

BEHAVIOUR-TRIGGERED -  We know motivation and willpower only last so long. In order to succeed with any goal we need to create reminders that will help us to take actions. They will not only make sure we do it more consistently, but after a while (min. 21 days:)), those actions will become more automatic, easier and require less effort. If you want to learn a new skill, when in your daily routine can you fit it in? Is it after you get home from work, or when you have your first cup of coffee on the weekend? Try it, it is really powerful!

Doesn't it all sound more exciting than specific, measurable, achievable, result-driven and time bound? 😃 

Hope you find it helpful and have some FUN with it!  

To your success!!! 

Love, Justyna xx