SMART Goals Aren’t That Smart

by Matt Helm Issue 9: July 2019

Setting goals is one of the most important preparations one can undertake to ensure progress in life. Without setting a goal, how does an individual track their success? In secondary school I remember being taught that for a goal to be effective, it should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely). I thought I knew everything I needed to know about setting goals, but it wasn’t until I read The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can by Leslie Householder that I discovered exactly what was missing from my own goal setting.

For a goal to be SMART, it must be specific. One strategy for creating specific goals is to answer questions related to your goal. One of my goals is to graduate from college; however, this goal (as currently written) is broad and nonspecific. It answers the “who” question (I) and the “what” question (graduate), but it neglects the “where,” “which,” and “why” questions. For example, I should specify that I will graduate from UNLV, the degree I will graduate with is a B.A. in Psychology, and I want to graduate to get into graduate school. In addition to being specific, SMART goals must be measurable. I must answer the “how” question to determine how I know a goal is complete. For my graduation goal, this is easy: I can measure completion when I receive my diploma at UNLV’s commencement. SMART goals must also be achievable. Therefore, my goal must be actually possible. Graduating from UNLV with my B.A. in Psychology is highly realistic. I only have two semesters to go. As long as I continue to do well in my classes and put in the effort, I will graduate from UNLV. In addition, SMART goals must be relevant. I must answer whether this goal is worth the required effort. In my case, graduating from UNLV is a stepping stone to a much loftier aspiration; I want to teach at a community college or university. Before doing do that, I need to earn a PhD. Graduating helps me to work towards this future because admittance to graduate school requires a bachelor’s degree. Therefore, graduating is absolutely worth the effort. Finally, for a goal to be SMART, it must also be timely. I need to answer the “when” question. When will I graduate? Easy, spring 2020. By using the SMART approach to goal setting, my new smarter goal statement would be: I will graduate with my B.A. in Psychology during UNLV’s spring 2020 commencement, in order to prepare myself for graduate school and teaching at a community college or university.

However, after reading The Jackrabbit Factor, I discovered that one problem with setting a goal like this is that it is written in the future tense. But that makes sense! I haven’t completed my goal yet, so obviously it has to be in the future tense. Or does it? Householder argues that by writing a goal statement in the future tense, you are effectively keeping it there permanently. And because this goal resides perpetually in the future, it becomes lost forever in the throes of “maybe someday”. Therefore, Householder instead urges us to write our goal statements in the past tense, as though the goal were already achieved. Specifically, she recommends we write a diary entry, complete with a future date at the top, talking about how wonderful it is to have achieved our goal. Householder’s future diary entries have many of the same elements as SMART goals. The entry should be specific, it should explain the importance of achieving the goal and more importantly how achieving that goal made you feel, and it is naturally timely because it is based on a real future target date. Using my graduation as an example I have written my future diary entry below.

May 19, 2020.

I had a wonderful time today at UNLV’s commencement ceremony where I walked across the stage and received my bachelor’s degree in Psychology. It was a little nerve-wracking walking across the stage and so I’m glad I didn’t trip or stumble and embarrass myself. There were so many people there! All my family attended, despite my protests and multiple attempts to dissuade them from doing so. Kim was there, wearing her infamous red hat, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her. Of course, I remembered to wear my lab cords, even though the purple clashed with the red graduation gowns. I felt pangs of nostalgia thinking about the Interactive Measurement Group and all the friends I had made there. I am a little sad to be leaving soon, but am looking forward to beginning graduate school in the fall. I’m looking forward to being a teaching assistant, too, since this will help prepare me for my own classes. After the ceremony today I met up with my family. We did the awkward-hugging thing and the taking-endless-pictures thing. After what felt like an eternity of picture taking, we went to have a celebratory dinner at Applebee’s Grill + Bar. I’m overjoyed to have graduated from UNLV, but tomorrow I need to write a new future diary entry for what I will have accomplished in graduate school.

Householder’s diary entries blew my mind. Instead of thinking about how I can someday achieve a goal, I needed to think about how I will have achieved that goal. And this is just one of the many lessons on finding success that I appreciated from The Jackrabbit Factor. I encourage you to read this book. Householder even offers a free copy of the e-book on her website.

Matt Helm has been in the Interactive Measurement Group since Spring 2018. Matt is majoring in Psychology at UNLV and hopes to graduate in Spring of 2020. After graduation Matt hopes to attend a Ph.D. program related to Psychology. Matt’s ultimate goal is to work as a professor of psychology at either a university or community college.