Why Using SMART Goals Could Be Your Biggest Mistake

“Don’t do it!” I thought as I read a post. “Don’t tell people to use SMART goals! They’ll never reach their goals with any consistency.”

And yet people do. They try to ‘squeeze’ their goal ‘into’ the SMART frame model, thinking “now I’ve got this.” And they do not, other than perhaps now and then.

Who is interested in achievement, only occasionally? Sporadically or haphazardly? Not me.

And yet we do that Einstein thing, right? “Doing the same thing expecting different results.”

What I do know for sure is that SMART goals literally quash any dream to do something you’ve never done before.

For years I shuddered when I heard the term SMART because after thirteen years NOT using SMART goals, my clients were all getting consistent results over long periods of time.

One day I decided to really take a look at SMART goals. Once I did, I knew the problem right away. And I searched the history of SMART goals. It all made sense!

They are not for Goals, but the tasks moving toward the goals! Okay! I can go with that. Here’s the what’s so.

S for Specific. Yes, absolutely yes. The more specific the better! [mostly because specificity is inspiring and causes motivation.]

M is for Measurable. Yes, absolutely yes. Confidence grows when we can measure what we’ve done. [we’ve come a long way baby.]

A is for Achievable. No, absolutely no. When you take on a goal you have not ever done before, you really don’t know IF you can achieve it!

R is for Realistic. No, absolutely no. Like achievable, at the point of setting the goal we don’t know yet IF it is achievable.

T is for Time bound. Yes, absolutely yes. We are inspired and in action when we get a vision of what it’s like once the goal is achieved.

A big problem …

SMART goals are all we’ve had! No one I've met in thirteen years has ever had a proper course in setting Goals! Not in high school or university!

And SMART goals don’t work. In thirteen years of distinguishing what are the actual things we can do to tip the scale in our favor with consistency, achievable and realistic are never part of that list.

As there is no comprehensive, proven checklist or list of rules for goal setting, anywhere ...

In 2013, I created them for my clients and since that time, over almost 36 business quarters, every client has achieved every goal (except for a few isolated incidents).

When we learned to play tic-tac-to, someone showed us the rules and from then on, we could win! Unless someone else knew the rules and could beat us!

Chess was no fun for me until I learned the moves and rules for each piece. You too?

When I first learned word problems in elementary school, they were a mystery. I made it through school never having a handle on how to solve them. Right or wrong was a crap shoot.

In a college algebra class, the professor said one day, “there are six simple algebraic equations to solve all word problems.” I was floored. That was missing for me. On the exam, yes, I got all the word problems solved correctly. You gave me the rules!

So back to goals a minute. The reality is … we now have the rules! I spent years looking for them in one place, to no avail. Many of them are deeply embedded in the principles of success in Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. A few quick reads do not uncover these babies! For me it's been 80+ studies of the manuscript.

And with these “12 golden rules of results,” (what I call them) each and every goal you set has the best chance of manifesting … the more of the rules you use, the better the chance. With that comes the confidence along with success and momentum.

Inside the golden rules are the polar opposite lessons for Achievable and Realistic in SMART goals. Adhering to those two SMART elements will likely have you walk away again, disappointed and not motivated.

First, though, the purpose of a goal is to “motivate you into action.” If you are not motivated, simply pick another goal, one that does.

1.?????Achievable: If you can map out all the steps to reach your goal, pick another goal! If you know the steps, you would have done it. And it is not motivating.

2.?????Realistic: Don’t start where you are; start where you want to go or be. You’ve never been there so it’s not yet realistic.

Now beginning our 35th consecutive business quarter, the 12 golden rules of results are deeply embedded into my signature program “the 8 Essentials mavenZmind.” They are the ‘keel’ that keeps us moving forward and upward, into the light, always.

Did you find an insight valuable and/or interesting? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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The final "piece to the puzzle" on precisely How to craft a 90 day Goal you will Always achieve (save catastrophes of course). You will learn things you've never seen before and know they make perfect sense.

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