A Life Coaching Approach to Setting S.M.A.R.T Goals - Part 1 - Goals, Goals, Goals!
“The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” - Michelangelo
We hear so much about setting goals and the importance of setting goals. What’s the big deal about setting goals? Are they really all that important? Will they really have that big of an impact on my life? The answer is often “yes” but in reality the more accurate answer “it depends”. Setting goals in and of itself is an important first step, but it is meaningless unless there is a specific plan of follow through. You can plop several destinations in your gps, but never arrive there if you don’t get in your car and start driving.
Seneca eloquently said of goals that “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” Yogi Berra said it more succinctly, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else.” I would add that you will end up somewhere else. The motivational expert Jim Rohn expands on this scenario by explaining that “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
So with those truths evident, if goal setting certainly seems to have the potential of greatly impacting our lives why is it that so many people hesitate to set them? Even more to the point, why do so many millions of people set goals, usually on January 1, only to have them two weeks later collecting dust until once again they are picked up off the shelve on the next, you got it, January 1? It reminds me of the person that said that their New Year’s resolution was to finish their last year’s resolution of losing 10 lbs and they only had 25 lbs to go!
We are going to address some of the difficulties and obstacles that hinder goal setting by taking a life coaching approach to the topic. We are going to talk about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, but instead of just focusing on your “to do list”, we are going to helping you develop your “to why list” as well. By the use of life coaching questions, we are going to help you to better design those goals so that they are accomplished throughout the upcoming days, weeks, months and even years.
We are going to use the S.M.A.R.T. goals blueprint that is very popular. Smart is an acronym for “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Trackable.” This blueprint can be an incredibly helpful tool in taking purposeful steps to accomplishing out dreams. It can also be a frustrating experience if we don’t adjust for our personal obstacles. In that case it ends up being more like “Started, Meant to, Avoided, Regretted and Try again next year!”
Life Coaching Questions - What are ways in the past that you have successfully tracked the progression of a goal? How can you keep track of the progress? If someone was to keep track of it, how would you explain it to them so that they could do it?
One of my favorite speakers is John Maxwell who said that “Goals not only help you develop initial motivation by making your dreams obtainable, but they also help you continue to be motivated and that creates momentum.” I hope that this article has helped encourage to set, work and achieve your dreams.
Life Coaching Questions: "“You have stated your goal, not tell me what it looks like?”. “What would accomplishing the goal feel like?” “What would be some of the benefits that would result in the accomplishing of this goal?
Dean Page - Certified Life Coach