I love setting goals; and have loved it since I was a little girl with plaits. I vividly recall being around 9 years old stating I was going to go to Julliard School of Music to play the flute. Over the years my goals changed a bit but I was still making goals. (I’m talking to you 15 year Ashley René who dreamed of being a serial entrepreneur.)
I was unaware of SMART goals at the time. It wasn’t until I was in college that I was exposed to this method of goal setting. A professor introduced it to me as a way to plan better.
The method was great. Very well structured and easy for me to follow through on my goals. For those of you unfamiliar with the SMART goal method, I will break it down for you:
This tried and true method has helped me read 10 books one year, run a marathon another year, get amazing promotions at work multiple years and become a better business woman last year. But I wonder if this method has kept me from really reaching my full potential.
You see, I take exception to one word in the SMART goal setting method – Realistic.
Oxford Dictionary defines realistic as “having or showing a sensible and practical idea of what can be achieved or expected.” Just reading that definition gets me worked up.
We are not designed to live a life that is merely “sensible” or “practical,” no, we are meant to live a life of abundance. The world has NEVER been changed by individuals who act sensibly or practically. Lives can potentially be impacted by sensible and practical people, but the people who make the biggest impact on someone’s life are the people who dare to be different.
The world has given us clear directions on what is realistic and to be expected. Wake up. Go to work. Perform your job as best you can. Leave work. Go home. Tend to any people or pets you have. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. You can throw in fun activities, but they need to fit into what is acceptable.
If this makes you happy then I am happy for you. For me however, I can no longer do realistic. Realistic has come to bore me and stifle my potential.
This year, as I make my goals I am still going to employ the SMAAT (pronounced SM-AHT) goal setting method:
Your goals should be AUDACIOUS! They should seem so impossible when you share them people will be a little confused.
Audacious goals make us work harder and keep us dreaming, just as we did when we were a kid. See, I am sure many of you once dreamed big and bold but somewhere along the way you were told that big and bold dreams weren’t for people “like you.” A female. A kid from poverty, or from a small town. A kid of color, or with a disability. And like that, your dreams became smaller and more practical, reasonable.
You were meant to do great things. You were meant to have happiness and success as defined by you.
Now, you still need a have a plan to get there, but do not let the enormity of your dreams stop you from dreaming. Could you imagine if our trailblazers listened to those around them telling them to just stop: Sojourner Truth, Marie Carmichael Stopes, Emmeline Pankhurst, Madame CJ Walker, Ruth Gingsberg, Oprah Winfrey, Kathryn Bigelow.
2017 is your year my friend. Whatever you have been holding back to dream, this is the year it comes out. It is your year to break personal records; and make impact on the lives of those around you. It is your year to see gains in areas of your life that haven’t seen gains in ages. This is your year, but you must have audacious goals and follow the SMAAT method to reach them.
