I have been going through the various aspects of using S.M.A.R.T. goals. Today, I want to discuss the last piece of the puzzle and that is making sure your goals and dreams are Time- Specific.

As we have seen through all of the posts about S.M.A.R.T. goals, having goals is very important if you want to improve your life. However, if you never make a decision about when those goals will be achieved, your mind will never work to help you find the solutions and the actions you need to progress.

By putting a completion date on all of your goals, you will be able to prioritize those goals. Also, because you have broken your goals down into smaller tasks, you need to put a timeframe to each of those tasks. This will create a set of milestones or markers that tell you where you will be on your path to achievement by certain dates. These dates help you focus your attention.

Just think about when you studied for an exam in school. If they never told you when the exam was going to be you may be motivated to study more evenly over time, but it would become frustrating  because you wouldn’t know how much to study or when. This is especially true if you have many other important activities going on. By putting a date on the exam, you can schedule your study time and prioritize it amongst the rest of your life.

While this might give you an insight as to why people cram for exams the night before, cramming is not what I am suggesting you do for your life goals. For some people and for some tasks that works fine to get the job done, but it doesn’t lead to retention or a strong understanding (ask me why I know this), or in terms of life goals, a strong appreciation for the smaller achievements you are making.

If you are having a tendency to cram in those tasks before the time you set for yourself, there are too things to consider. First, did you break down the goals into fine enough detail? Following the exam analogy, did you break your studying up into smaller sections, such as reading specific chapters, working out specific sample problems, etc. Secondly, did you give yourself a realistic amount of time to complete the task? Review your assumptions and make adjustments as needed, but never lose sight of your goals.

By making your goals Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-Specific, you will be able to more easily adjust and continue when you face obstacles along the way.

I would love to hear about your goals and what you have done to make them more achievable for you. Everyone loves a success story.

You can review the rest of the steps so far by following any of the links below.

SPECIFIC

MEASUREABLE

ACTIONABLE

REALISTIC

TIME SPECIFIC – That’s this one.