The Goals Grapefruit

I’ve always hated SMART goals; it’s so facile, so boring, so over-used, and it doesn’t even make sense! Specific and Measureable mean the same thing, and Achieveable and Realistic mean the same thing. It might as well be SAT.... 

And then what about writing goals down, making sure they excite you, and making sure they have enough detail? SMART doesn't even begin to cover it.

No, SMART is not good enough. It’s time for… The Goals Grapefruit!

Generous – your life goals should involve helping others to get something they want, or working in partnership. You won’t succeed if you only think about yourself before your customers or team-mates.

Recorded – goals should be written down, not kept in your head. Commit to them!

Ambitious – goals should be a bit scary, not just “Achievable” and “Realistic” but big and hairy and “Ooh, I don’t know if I can do that!” because that’s the feeling of your subconscious expanding to make room for higher performance.

Positive – your subconscious needs something to aim for, so it won’t work if you have goals like giving up smoking or not being so lazy, or working less hard – these might be good starting points but they should be reversed to show what you will do instead.

Emotional – goals should stir your emotions. It’s your feelings that will fire your actions, so you have to FEEL it. SMART is so dry and boring and dead! If you’re not excited about your goal then get another one.

Figures – goals do need to be measurable, to be made into numbers in some way. I’ll give that one to SMART, but only the one. So instead of “Get Fit” it should be to run 50km a week or to be able to do 50 pressups.

Refreshed daily – ideally you’d be reminded of your goals every day, by a notice on the wall, maybe a list or even better some pictures, and you might even take a moment every day to imagine what it’ll be like when you get to where you want to go in life.

Unplanned – don’t worry about how, that will sort itself out. If you plan too much you’ll worry, you’ll aim lower because you can see how to do that lower level, you’ll get too attached and potentially miss other opportunities, and anyway the route will never be the one you expect. Goal setting isn’t like Project Management.

In detail - you need to know all the detail of your goals – which countries you want to visit, what they look like – maybe even get some pictures. But remember you are researching the details of what you want, not how to get there.

Trusted – don’t worry about how you’ll get there, just trust in fate that things will happen, you’ll meet the right people, you’ll find a way. Leave it to your subconscious to make the right choices as you go along. If you try to force it then it probably won’t work.

Onwards and definitely upwards!

CC

PS - I do understand that SMART is often used for setting work objectives, rather than goals for your life. But hey, why can't even work objectives be exciting and challenging etc? And heaven forbid that you have goals for your life that are as dreary as SMART.....

PPS - Despite being more of a fruit than a vegetable, the Goals Gr ape fruit will be featured in my Book of Management Vegetables, coming out soon. Keep an eye out for it!

PPPS - Did I mention how much I hate SMART?