Achieving the goals you set for yourself feels good. It’s essential to clarify your objectives and turn them into a more specific form, so you are more likely to achieve them.
SMART goals are a popular way of setting and achieving targets. The acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
Here are some tips and examples for Gitga’at members on turning regular goals into SMART goals.
Specific
To make a goal specific, provide more details. It helps to map out different areas of your life or work and set goals in each. Some examples of specific goals that are relevant for members could be:
Health: Improve health and fitness by walking a few times a week.
Education: Apply for financial support for post-secondary education or learning a trade.
Community: Organize or contribute to an event in the community to make it a success.
Culture: Participate in traditions, ceremonies, or harvesting activities to connect with culture.
Measurable
Attaching a number to a goal makes it easier to track progress. We’ll take our goals from the previous step and make them more specific and measurable.
Health: Walk three times a week for 30 minutes for health and fitness.
Education: Apply for financial support from three sources for post-secondary education.
Community: contribute to one event in the community to make it a success.
Culture: Participate in one tradition, ceremony, or harvesting activity before March 1.
Achievable
It’s best to set attainable goals that are possible. By setting practical goals, you are more likely to achieve them. The goal should be challenging but doable. An example of such a goal would be:
Gain an entry-level position in the trades by April 1, and be promoted in the industry within three years.
Realistic
A goal is realistic when it takes into account your available resources and time. Your goal should be something you can see yourself accomplishing. For Gitga’at members, realistic goals might revolve around health, work, family, community, culture, and hobbies. A realistic goal may be:
A busy member who lives elsewhere books time off work and life’s other obligations, and makes travel arrangements so they can participate in the next Gitga’at harvest.
Timely
Timely goals have a clear start and finish date. This deadline creates a sense of urgency and motivates you to achieve the goal. To set a timely goal, write down the calendar date on which you will reach the objective. For example:
To improve health and fitness, a member decides they will walk three times a week, for 30 minutes, starting on March 15. They will evaluate their progress on April 15. To keep themselves accountable, they will use a stopwatch or timer to ensure they walk for 30 minutes and use an app or journal to track each walk.
Take a Look at Your Current Goals
In summary, SMART goals set you up for success by making your goals more concrete. By turning your objectives into things that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, you increase your chances of actually achieving your goals.
Take your existing goals, and turn them into SMART goals, so you have a better chance at accomplishing the targets you set for yourself.