But Are They Smart Goals?

Yeah, I got some goals. I made them up all by myself. I know what I want to do for my career. I want to travel far and wide and often. I want the husband and the babes. I got the big picture framed up all nice and pretty.

When I was little and I would want things – especially in the Barbie isle at Toys-R-Us. Every second I’d be begging “Mommy, I want this! No this one!” And without fail, my mom would say, “It’s nice to want things.”

She wasn’t wrong. It’s awfully nice to have desires and goals. But Mom can’t buy us everything. Now we’re adults and such, everything we want is a matter of identifying, setting goals, working towards and reaching them. Then we can roll around in our accomplishments. But not without first, a plan of action.

You remember this old thing right? S.M.A.R.T. Goals?

From back in elementary school, likely in coloring page form? Sure you do! But in the time since, tell me how often you set a big goal and you’ve stopped and asked, “Hmm, how long is this going to take me? Am I still going to be excited about this in a year?” Because you’ve never gotten trapped in the (enter hobbby/craft/pop culture/fashion obsession here) phase. Right?

Honestly, stop right now and list your top 5 goals for the next year.

What do they look like? Work? Family? School? Relationships? Do you have the slightest idea how to achieve them? Or do you just know you WANT them. Here are mine for example.

Think about your goals. Put on your prioritizing hat and really boil down to the 5 goals you want to accomplish within the next year. What do you want your life to look like in the next 365 days? A lot can happen in that time and while not all of it is in your control, much is directly caused by your decisions.

So you want to make sure you’re making decisions that will make you the happiest person you can be a year from today.

You stew on that for the night. Bring them each day this week and we’ll run our goals through the S.M.A.R.T Test.

Don’t worry, I’m gonna pick apart mine too! Don’t forget to follow Taken By The Lapels on Facebook to get each update!