The End of SMART Goals? Now There’s an Easier Way Guest Post by “Justin Wolsey Riggs”

The End of SMART Goals? Now There’s an EASIER Way!

When I was a kid learning how to set goals, all I ever heard was “make sure your goals are SMART… Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.” The only problem was, setting SMART goals never seemed to help me achieve them! In fact, in my case, trying to make sure I set SMART goals usually left me tired, frustrated, and unsure of my ability to even set a goal properly, not to mention achieve it. I needed an easier way to incorporate this powerful personal development tool into my life. Lucky for me, I found one!

Years of research in the fields of human potential (and goal setting in particular) has shown that those who consistently achieve their goals follow a very specific pattern of behavior. In short, once goal-achievers intend to do something, they:

Envision what their life will look like after they have achieved their goal. Second, they assess where they stand in relation to that goal. Then, after creating an honest assessment, they begin strategizing how they are going to get from “where they are” to “where they want to be”. Next, they implement their strategy, and begin working towards the achievement of their objectives. As they progress (or regress, depending on how things are going), goal-achievers take time to evaluate their progress, and finally, they surround themselves with people they trust that they can report their findings to. When you line the process up, it looks like this.

Goal-achievers:

Envision
Assess
Strategize
Implement
Evaluate
Report

The really good news is, each of us is already an expert in using the EASIER Method to achieve those ingrained goals that we call “habits”. Think about it: when you want to get home from work at 5:30 so that you can see your beautiful wife (or handsome husband, whatever the case might be), you:

Envision what it will be like when you walk in the door into the arms of your loved one (“Man, I can’t wait to get home and hug my honey! He/She’s always so warm and cuddly!”).
Assess when you’ll need to leave, and how long you have until the moment you can leave the rat race and head for greener pastures (“It’s 4:30 now, and I can’t leave until 5 if I want to have a job in the morning. If I’m going to make it home by 5:30, I’ll need to…).

Strategize as to what the best route will be (“… avoid the highway, because at that time of day, it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic. I’ll take the back roads instead, and stop by the flower shop on my way.”).

Implement your strategy with the hope that it will help you achieve your goal (“5:00! Time to get out of here!”).

Evaluate your progress along the way (“Darn! I wasn’t planning on this construction! I’m going to have to go a bit faster once I get through this traffic if I want to make it home on time!”)

Report your progress (“Hi, honey. Boy, am I glad to see you; it was a tough day at the office! Oh, these? They’re flowers – yes, for you! I know, I know, I shouldn’t have.”)

You see? You’re an EASIER Method expert without even having tried. Just imagine what you’re going to be able to achieve now that you understand the process that leads to consistent goal achievement! Happy goal-getting, and remember: there’s an EASIER Way to do everything!