How to Set SMARTER Goals

At Eaton Arrowsmith, we strongly believe in the power of recognizing progress and achieving goals. But sometimes setting and achieving a goal is easier said than done (especially if you have a learning or attention difficulty that tends to pull you off course). If you would love to do and achieve more, but often get lost in the “whys” and “hows” of achievement, try using the SMARTER framework when you set your objectives - that is, make your goals Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Risky, Time-Keyed, Exciting, and Relevant.

The first step is to make your goal specific. Visualize exactly what you want to achieve, with detail. For example, instead of setting yourself a goal to “get a better body,” you might set a goal to “lose 15 lbs” or “drop 2 pants sizes.”

Next, be sure that you can measure your progress toward your goal - otherwise you will not know if you are on the right track! A good way to do this is to make sure you reference numbers in your goal - like miles run, time spent, or reps done.

You should also make sure you are able to take immediate action toward your goal. For example, if you have a broken leg and want to run in a marathon next week, your goal isn’t very actionable. You may want to change your immediate goal to “complete all 12 weeks of physical therapy” and save your marathon goal for another time.

Another great trick to achieving goals is to make them risky - this doesn’t mean you should risk your health or safety but, rather, that you should risk failure. A risky goal is a challenging goal, and setting yourself up with a sporting challenge actually increases your chances of staying motivated, staying interested, and ultimately succeeding in your endeavor.

Next, give your goal a “time-key. This can be a traditional deadline, like “read 20 books by December 31st.” Or it can be a streak, like “read 1 book a week for 20 weeks.” Either way, creating a time-key creates a sense of urgency that will better keep you on task.

Possibly the most important tip when creating a SMARTER goal is to make your objective exciting! The #1 surest way to abandon a goal is to set a goal that you don’t care about, so strive toward goals that leave you feeling optimistic about the future.

Finally, make sure your goal is relevant to your current situation. Set yourself up for success by choosing goals that make sense for your current lifestyle. For example, if you are away at college, you might want to focus on goals that you can work toward on campus, rather than goals that require access to your parents’ house.

Following these 7 steps will help keep you focused, motivated, and interested long enough to achieve your objectives. Combined with cognitive exercises and support to address learning disabilities, SMARTER goals are a great way to help you achieve more than you may have ever thought possible.