The S.M.A.R.T. Goals are an easy way to set goals for yourself in an organized manner so that you can measure your progress through the years and so that you can help your subconscious mind to organize its energies towards achieving these goals effectively in a structured manner.
S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-oriented) goals are the best way to make sure you actually get things done.
Specific means concrete and detailed rather than broad or general.
For example, “I want to improve my fitness” is not specific; it’s too vague to act on. “I will walk for thirty minutes at 6:30 pm four days a week” is specific, and actionable.
Measurable means you can easily figure out whether you made progress toward your goal.
If there’s no way to measure your goal, how will you know when it’s accomplished?
Achievable means that the goal is not too hard or too easy.
You can’t achieve a goal that’s so high above your abilities that it would be an incredible stroke of luck just to get close to it. And you can’t achieve a goal that’s below your abilities, because then it won’t stretch you.
If your goal isn’t achievable, then the most likely outcome is that you’ll give up on reaching it before long, which will leave you feeling discouraged and demotivated in general.
Realistic means the goal is in line with what you’re good at right now.
Goals are a crucial part of any plan.
If goals aren’t specific enough. If you don’t get to the heart of what you’re trying to do, there’s a danger that you’ll fool yourself into thinking you’re succeeding when you’re not.