Jen Next Door

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Setting Up S.M.A.R.T Goals For Success

In one of my blog posts I talked about my vision board for this year. I collected the dreams and intentions that I want to accomplish for myself for 2023. Then I thought, how exactly am I going to achieve that?

SMART goals seem to be a good starting point.

SMART goals are a great way to make your big objectives more manageable and attainable. They can also be used in your business, with your employees or teams.

With these goals, employees have a better understanding of what the business needs from them and how to make it happen. It is also motivating because they are working towards something challenging, using their skill set and pushing their comfort zone.

So what are SMART goals?

These types of goals are useful to setting a goal up for success. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant, Timely. This formula can help organize your thoughts and help you think about what you want to achieve long term.

  • Specific

    With any goal, it is super important to add quantitative data wherever you can. So what is the goal you want to accomplish and how will you get there? You should also ask yourself, what is the reason behind it and who will need to help you along the way?

    One of my goals from my vision board is that “I want to grow my audience”. That gives me no detail about where I want to be exactly. How will I know I have achieved it if there is no detail information. To make that more specific I can say, “Grow to 1,000 monthly listeners by the end of 2023”. This gives me a lot more details about what I need to execute.

  • Measurable

    If you can’t measure your result then you won’t know when you have completed it. It’s important to measure things like timeline, revenue, products produced, customer satisfaction, projects, etc. How much of something do you need to make your objective happen?

    Going back to my goal example, I want to have 1,000 monthly listeners by 2023. I am measuring my listeners on the Buzzsprout website, looking at the numbers monthly. I can look at my followers and website traffic to see an increase in my audience as well.

  • Achievable

    Is it in your power to accomplish said goal? Will you be able to accomplish your goals with the tools and skills you possess? And if you don’t have those skills how will you attain them? Do you need to learn a new skill set, research a bit about your topic, or hire someone else to help you? You should also look at your past work. Was a similar target doable in the past?

    Now, I haven’t gotten to 1,000 monthly listeners yet but I believe I can do it! I have been researching how other podcasters increase their audience and I have been doing a couple of new things that I believe can help me achieve this. It’s also critical to be mindful that if you don’t reach your goal it’s totally ok! Don’t let that discourage you. You just need to keep adjusting.

  • Realistic/Relevant

    Depending on who you ask, the R can stand for realistic or relevant. Both seem to work just fine. Does your goal make sense to your business? What can this goal help you achieve in the long term? Can you realistically achieve it? Keep in mind, you can strive for a big goal. It’s ok to push the envelope a little to be able to achieve amazing things.

    The more traffic I can get, the more reach I can have. I would like to increase my podcast traffic to be able to monetize it in the future. But I need more listeners so I think having 1,000 monthly listeners is relevant and realistic.

  • Timely

    So when exactly do you want to accomplish your goal? Creating a deadline is important because it gives you an attainable plan. You can measure your progress as you go along and adjust as needed.

    I would like to accomplish my goal by December 2023. As the year goes on, I can look at how far I’ve gotten and adjust accordingly. If I’m not seeing much progress by the middle of the year, I would need to change my strategy so by December I can complete my target. Or I might get to 1,000 sooner than December and in which case I can change my goal from 1,000 listeners to 1,500 for example.

Hopefully SMART goals will help you ask the important questions that will lead to your success. And remember to also celebrate the small milestones along the way because “life is a journey, not a destination”. -Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What are some goals you are trying to achieve and how will you get there?