Lesson One: Specific Goals
Welcome to lesson one. In this lesson, we'll cover several tips to help you become more specific with your goals, as well as some common pitfalls to avoid.
Don't use vague wording
We've all heard the goals--and likely made similar ones ourselves--where people say they'll "lose weight" or "to improve" or "eat healthier" and other similar goals. These sound like great things, but don't really say much in terms of what the end goal should look like. As the University of California puts it, "These imply the direction that you want a result to move in, but don’t do much to explain the role or specific action that you will take to accomplish this change" (5). Using vague terminology doesn't help much in the way of giving a clear vision.
Wording is key. Vague terms create unactionable goals. Knowing the kinds of steps you will take in order to go the direction that you desire will help you actually reach that destination.
Wording is key. Vague terms create unactionable goals.
How does one identify if a goal is vague? One easy way to tell is to look at your goal and ask yourself "Does this give me a clear idea of what I'm supposed to do right now?" If the answer is "no" or "maybe?", then your wording is too vague.
Create a specific idea that guides you towards your desired destination
So what are some examples of specific goals? We'll use the example of "I want to increase how much I write" throughout this course. Notice the vague wording? This goal doesn't give us any clear direction on what we're supposed to do right now or, at the very least, the direction is iffy. Let's try to come up with more specific ways to phrase it that give us a clear idea of what steps we plan to take in order to increase how much we write.
There are a few options that we could take, depending on what our overall vision is at the moment.
1. I will write 30 minutes/day, 5 days/week.
2. I will publish a book.
3. I will finish this draft.
Notice the specific wording of each of these: finish, publish, write. Each of these goals give us a clear idea of what we're supposed to accomplish. While they aren't yet SMART goals, they accomplish the first step of creating a SMART goal by being specific, and that is our only goal for right now: creating a specific action step that helps us reach our overall vision.
There are a few options that we could take, depending on what our overall vision is at the moment.
1. I will write 30 minutes/day, 5 days/week.
2. I will publish a book.
3. I will finish this draft.
Notice the specific wording of each of these: finish, publish, write. Each of these goals give us a clear idea of what we're supposed to accomplish. While they aren't yet SMART goals, they accomplish the first step of creating a SMART goal by being specific, and that is our only goal for right now: creating a specific action step that helps us reach our overall vision.
Your Turn!
Now it's your turn. Pull out your workbook and grab something to write with (or prepare to type, if your working digitally). Flip to page 2, "entitled Lesson One: Specific Goals".
Step One: In the first box, write down whatever goal comes to mind. It can be super vague if that's all you've got right now. For our purposes, it is actually helpful that it is worded vaguely.
Step Two: Take that goal and, in box two, write down several specific goals that provide you with an action that enable you to reach your vision from step one. Highlight the one that interests you the most. While you can work on developing all of the goals on your list, this will be the one that you should focus on as we go through the course.
And there you have it! A specific goal, all ready for you to develop into a SMART goal! Now you're ready to decide what measurement you'll use to determine success.
Step One: In the first box, write down whatever goal comes to mind. It can be super vague if that's all you've got right now. For our purposes, it is actually helpful that it is worded vaguely.
Step Two: Take that goal and, in box two, write down several specific goals that provide you with an action that enable you to reach your vision from step one. Highlight the one that interests you the most. While you can work on developing all of the goals on your list, this will be the one that you should focus on as we go through the course.
And there you have it! A specific goal, all ready for you to develop into a SMART goal! Now you're ready to decide what measurement you'll use to determine success.
Works Cited
University of California. "SMART goals: A how-to guide." University of California, https://www.ucop.edu/local-human-resources/_files/performance-appraisal/How%20to%20write%20SMART%20Goals%20v2.pdf. Accessed 19 January 2023.