“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” The world vouches for dreaming big. Yet, when it comes to our thoughts and thus actions, we are limited by “Realism”.
When talking of Goal Setting, the SMART framework of Goal Setting, is often talked about. It’s an acronym used to mean Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound Goals. It’s indeed imperative to set SMART Goals in order to avoid being lost and wasting time, energy and resources on things that don’t really add value to our lives. Setting SMART goal is the key to make the best of our lives.
Here are a few examples of SMART Goals:
- My goal is “To lose 30 24 Kgs” by Dec 2016, to achieve a healthier BMI.
- My goal is to “Save INR 3 5 lac” by Dec 2016, for more financial security.
- My goal is to “Buy a 3 BHK house in a posh or semi-posh locality of Delhi” by Dec 2016, for more prosperity.
This, however, doesn't necessarily is the ingredient for a grand life. I’m going to talk about an add on that, if applied to a SMART Goal, will guarantee uncommon success. After all, the only difference between productive people and extraordinary individuals is that the productive people set SMART Goals while the later set SUPER SMART goals.
Let’s understand what Super SMART Goals are:
- Split-able
- Uplifting
- Pressurizing
- Enlightening
- Radical
Split-able: For successful accomplishment of a grand goal, it’s required that a goal can be split into meaningful chunks. Because it’s easier to work on smaller portions and keep a check on progress than to work on a whole big goal at once. Splitting a goal also helps convert, what may appear a daunting project, into a series of practically and easily doable steps. Besides, once split, it can be formed into an action plan which can be reviewed at defined timelines. E.g. have a look at the three SMART Goals mentioned above. All of these are easily split-able into monthly targets. Thus it’s easier to make an action plan for these goals.
Uplifting: This is what makes all the difference. Upon setting a SMART goal which is Split-able into meaningful portions, it’s time to test if this goal indeed aligns with the bigger purpose in life. Ask yourself if this goal uplifts or elevates you in a significant manner. If it makes you more confident, secure, or raises your status or morale; it raises your lifestyle or wisdom. If it doesn't, you might as well want to rethink it and add an uplifting factor to it.
Clearly all the three SMART Goals taken as an example are uplifting. The first uplifts one’s health thus the ultimate wealth while the third uplifts stability, security and status.
Let’s look at the second goal, [My goal is to “Save INR 3 2.5 lac” by Dec 2016, for more financial security]. Can it be made more uplifting? I’d alter this goal as “My goal is to “Save INR 3 2.5 lac” by Dec 2016, for investing in a Fixed Deposit/ SIP [Or any other source of investment].
Pressurizing/Pushing: A SUPER SMART Goal, while being Attainable, must also be pressurizing or pushing. By that I mean it should push you out of your comfort zone and keep you under manageable pressure so that when you achieve it, you eventually end up achieving beyond what you would have, had you set an attainable but easy goal.
For example, if it’s easy for you to lose 2 KGs every month [while it’s also healthy to lose up to 3 Kgs every month] you might not want to use all the 12 months losing this weight. I would alter this Goal to make it more challenging yet realistic.
E.g. “My goal is to lose 30 24 Kgs by Aug 2016 and work on maintaining it till Dec 2016, to sustain the weight loss and healthier BMI”.
Enlightening: If a goal doesn't bring more learning and wisdom, it may neither be uplifting nor life-changing. For every life changing event brings with it immense learning and enlightenment. You must also check if your SUPER SMART goal has some learning attached to it. If not, you can always add an element of learning to it.
For example: The weight loss goal will enlighten you of various healthy ways of losing weight and bring into practise, a healthy life style; Pure Wisdom.
The “Save Money to Invest” goal needs you to understand your finances better, knowledge of budgeting and investing.
And, the “Buying a house” goal will enlighten you of the little and big things needed to set up once own house. I remember getting my house renovated. Getting the work done by all sort of people from vendors and contractors to labours. The whole experience was overwhelming and taught me a lot of patience in addition to the ways to deal with people at a different level.
Radical: Now, this is simply what I meant when I said “Dream Big”. Is this a goal that’s going to change where you belong? Or bring about a drastic uplifting? Is it fundamentally shifting? Either of these and it’s a SUPER SMART goal. If not, as I said, add a radical element. Make it huge.
I am repeating what I’d shared in a related blog [Goal Setting] because it’s more important to act than to only set SMART or even SUPER SMART Goals. Stick to and act on the SUPER SMART Goals set.
- Write the goal statement and post it where it’s visible to you every single day, especially during your working and productive hours.
- Make a Robust Action Plan: Split it into chunks, set time lines for completion of every chunk, duration and time planned to work on it every day [e.g. 7 – 9 AM every day] and the time for review of every chunk [e.g. every Saturday Morning or the 15th of every month]. Jot down the support required [if any] for each.
- Revisit the goal every day. Act as much as possible. Stick to the schedule decided to work specifically on the goal every day. For rare deviations, ensure you cover the back log every week.
Remember, if it’s not challenging enough, it’ll not be changing enough either. Start to Outsmart and set SUPER SMART Goals. With diligence and discipline practice it for six months and see where it takes you.
