August 23, 2023 • 37 mins
Are you ready to harness the power of SMART goals? Join me, Heather Balcerek, as I take you on a refreshing journey, dispelling the complexities of goal setting and transforming it into an exciting, rewarding endeavor. I guarantee that by the end of this episode, you'll master the art of setting SMART goals. Trust me, the rewards of such strategic planning are monumental. From adding value to your work, balancing your workload, defining your success, to providing clarity, SMART goals enable you to work smarter and not harder. Plus, I'll share a personal revelation that underscores the efficiency and effectiveness of SMART goals.
As we venture deeper, we'll tackle the critical task of measuring and understanding the attainability of sales goals. It's a fascinating exploration of how setting and measuring goals can propel your progress, and why it's absolutely indispensable, regardless of your field. Drawing from my own experiences, we'll trace back to the basics, to the origins of SMART goals, and the invaluable lessons I've learned. So, gear up and prepare to have your perspectives on goal setting and achievement completely transformed!
Laughter, Love, and Blessings,
Heather
Resources:
History of SMART Goals: https://cce.bard.edu/files/Setting-Goals.pdf
How We Lead Article: https://howwelead.org/2014/12/10/a-new-twist-on-smart-goals/
How Motivation helps in achieving goals: https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-motivation-helps-in-achieving-goals
A Fresh Look at SMART Goals: https://www.kenblanchardbooks.com/a-fresh-look-at-smart-goals/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Goals increase your motivation, but you need the
motivation to take steps towardyour goals.
This is a classic chicken andegg situation.
Are you trying to be a betterleader, Change industries, reset
after a layoff, or just lookingfor ways to bring your whole
self to work?
Well, you're in the right place.
(00:20):
Hello and welcome to theConnect the Dots podcast, where
I am focused on helping youthrough these situations and
more, by sharing real lifestories and practical tips.
I'm here to support you throughcoaching and mentorship, along
with some amazing guests.
Hello and welcome to Connectthe Dots.
Lead the Way.
I'm your host, heather Balseric.
I am a white female with shortstrawberry blonde hair.
(00:42):
I am wearing tortoise shellglasses and a gray t-shirt.
I'm standing in front of a tealwall with multiple pieces of
art displayed and have abookcase over to my right.
In today's episode, we are goingto talk about why we should set
goals.
We're going to look at thehistory of the smart goal.
We're going to dive a littlebit into motivation and then
(01:05):
we're going to refresh our wayof thinking about smart goals.
I'm going to give you a littlebit of the light bulb moment
that I had a couple of weeks ago.
So why should we set goals?
Why are goals important?
The Bard Center of SimpleEngagement said that goal
setting can be daunting but canbe the key when executing a
(01:27):
project and, once accomplished,goal setting provides a place
for reflection to identify areasfor future growth or change.
And while this is talkingspecifically about goals at work
goals, you have goals in allparts of your life, and the part
(01:48):
where it talks about itprovides a place for reflection
and to identify areas of futuregrowth or change.
I think that's the key partwith a goal, because you may not
always hit your goal.
Maybe you don't hit your goalin the time that you want to, or
maybe you just don't hit thegoal.
Whatever it is, it's thatopportunity to look back and say
(02:11):
, oh, you know what, I could doit differently this time.
I could do this a little bitdifferently.
Or, oh, that was a really goodway to do that.
I need to make sure I do thatgoing forward when I do
something similar.
That's probably part of thegoal setting process that we
don't do enough of is reflection, so maybe you will dive into
(02:32):
that in the future, but let'sstay right here right now as far
as why goals are important andwhy we set goals.
In this same article, theylisted why set goals right.
Because what can goal settingdo?
And so some of the things thatthey listed was it can add value
to the work that you're doing.
(02:53):
It can help disseminate theworkload more evenly.
It can allow you to assess yourprogress along the way, manage
your time more effectively,which can diminish burnout or
needless work.
I talked about burnout in themini series just last week, so
if you did not listen to thatepisode, I encourage you, when
(03:15):
you get done with this one, goback and find that one, because
we really need to try to doanything that we can to diminish
that burnout.
Don't get to that point.
But goals can define success,give you clarity in that they
can demonstrate to your thatyour organization is going to
(03:37):
provide meaning sorry,manageable task.
And, last but not least, ontheir list, which I think is so
funny but they will help youwork smarter, not harder.
Of all the things that could bein here, I thought it was so
funny that they ended with worksmarter, not harder.
(03:58):
I say that probably a couple oftimes a week because it really
is important, and the way thatyou work smarter, not harder, is
when you are like trying to getto a goal, if you have a
setback, or when you get donewith the goal and you look back
upon it.
It's learning from those things.
It's learning from what youmight consider a failure.
(04:18):
It's taking those and makingthem opportunities to get better
.
That's how goals help you worksmarter, not harder.
But the grand father of them allis the smart goal.
Whenever you were probablytaught how to write goals, you
(04:39):
probably learned the smartmethod Probably I mean, it's the
one that's most prevalent in mylife and I never looked up to
see like well, where did it comefrom?
Who made it up Like any of that?
But the um, that article fromum, from the civil engagement
group um, said that smart goalswere developed by George Doran,
(05:01):
arthur Miller and JamesCunningham in their 1981 article
there's a Smart Way to WriteManagement Goals and Objectives.
And that article is older thanme, so, uh, it's a wise wisdom.
Uh is what we'll say, but Ithink about before I go into the
acronym uh, cause you're allprobably going.
(05:23):
Okay, heather, we know whatsmart means, right, we're gonna
go over it, though, when I thinkabout the thing, the title of
this article right, it's thesmart way to write management
goals and objectives.
And I feel like, while smartgoals are a great framework let
me not take that out of contextlike smart goals are a great
(05:45):
framework.
I think it's funny how it'sthey started as management goals
and objectives and how theykind of trickled into everywhere
else and I don't know.
I feel like there could be sometweaking and and and like how
we do these things, and we'llcome back around that to that at
the end when I give you mylight bulb moment that I had.
But smart, what does it standfor?
(06:07):
Specific, measurable,attainable, realistic, timely.
Uh, you may have also heard itas, um, the R being relevant
versus realistic and the T beingtime bound versus timely.
And you know, I don't rememberat what point I learned about
smart goals.
(06:27):
Um, I want to say it wasprobably early in my sales
career 2003, 2004.
And we would have to write outour goals every month and we'd
review them with our manager.
Maybe, maybe not Um, but we hadsheets, right, we had.
I really remembered this and Iwish I could find one and I
would like link it out.
(06:48):
Maybe I'll look for it.
But, um, we had sheets thatsaid right, specific, measurable
, attainable, relevant, time,bound, like we would have to
fill in these blanks every monthon the different goals that we
wanted to do.
And as, of course, as I moved upinto leadership, I continued
this practice of having peoplewrite smart goals.
Duh, because that's what you do, right, um?
(07:11):
And if I look back, I'm prettysure that one of the last
trainings that I wrote just ayear ago probably probably
talked about writing smart goals.
There, too, if, um, if you'venever written a smart goal, or
if you've ever found smart goalwriting hard, because I'm going
to raise my hand on that one um,I hated writing smart goals.
(07:34):
Uh, they were daunting anddifficult, they were terrible.
Hated them, that's a strongword, but I did absolutely my
least favorite thing I ever hadto do was write smart goals, and
I've done a lot of them overthe past 20 years.
Um, but let me give you anexample of what a smart goal
(07:55):
might have looked like when Iwas in sales.
Um, so I sold um cell phones.
Uh, so I worked in the wirelessindustry, and one of our goals
was always accessories, becausethat's where they make their
money.
Um, so you had a goal to sell,like, um, like three, you know
three accessories um to everyphone, right?
(08:17):
So your overall average, somaybe one person buys five
accessories and one person justcomes in and buys um one
accessory, right, it's the sixover the ones.
That would be a six dot O ratio.
We're going to say that math isright.
Just go with me.
Okay, um, but like typically um, our goal would be like three
right, a three dot O accessorytake rate.
(08:38):
So when I would write out thissmart goal, um specific right, I
want to sell um so manyaccessories, um, in order to
attain a three dot O accessorytake rate, um, and so how this
(09:01):
may look on the sheet, that wasa terrible smart goal.
Let me, sorry y'all, like I'mtrying to think about this on
the fly, but let's go Okay,specific, uh, the specific goal
that I wanted to do, right, isattain a, an accessory take rate
of three dot O.
Is that measurable?
How am I going to measure thatgoal?
I'm going to measure that by um, you know, taking the number of
(09:22):
accessories I sell and dividingit by the number of phones that
I sell.
And I will confirm that withour um, you know, our metric
tracker, kpi tracker thing, uh,that the system automatically
does Um, is this an attainablegoal?
Um, yes, this is an attainablegoal.
I've hit it before I can hit itagain.
Um, is it a relevant goal?
(09:43):
I'm going to go with relevantover realistic here.
Um, is it relevant?
Well, yeah, I was in sales.
Duh, I needed to sell thoseaccessories because it made me
more money, made the companymore money?
Uh, and then was it time bound?
Yep, because that was my goalfor the month.
So, uh, that's kind of what itwould look like on a sheet.
Typically, that was we justfill in those boxes, talk about
(10:05):
them with our manager.
Are they good with it, are theynot?
What can we do?
Um, and again, like I said,daunting, so daunting and so
difficult and just, uh, I mean,if you've ever had to write
smart goals like that, it feelsterrible.
I mean, maybe I'm.
(10:27):
Just I don't think I'm the onlyperson.
If, if I'm the only person, Imean, I guess let me know.
But I don't think so.
If you also did not likewriting smart goals, let me know
.
But stay with me because I'mgonna give you something at the
end, my light bulb moment, thatnow I'm all about some smart
(10:47):
goals.
So stick with me.
But before we get into thisnext part, I do wanna pause and
say thank you.
Thank you for listening to thispodcast.
I hope that you're enjoying itso far and if you are, could you
take a quick moment and give ita rating or review?
Or, if you've already donethose things, could you share it
with someone?
I really would love to be insharing reviews on the podcast.
(11:11):
So if you would write me alittle review, I will happily
feature that on the upcomingepisodes.
So thank you in advance.
Let's go into this next partand kind of flipping the script
a little bit on the smart goal,and so this is the first piece.
This is like the light bulbmoment for me.
(11:32):
This is like the switch liketurned on with the electrical
current hadn't gotten to thelight bulb yet.
Okay, but I went throughsituational leadership too,
which is a Blanchard course.
I went through that a couple ofweeks ago and this is where
these things started to likejust blow my mind.
And Blanchard, he changed acouple of the letters, like what
(11:56):
the letters mean, and the firstone they changed was M.
So that was measurable, right.
He changed it to motivating,and then he took the T and
changed it from timely totrackable.
And when I think about, likethe definition of a smart goal
before, like the example that itgave you of like trying to hit
(12:17):
a certain accessory take ratenumber, that was not motivating
at all, like there was nothingabout that goal that made me
excited, nothing about that mademe wanna go out and sell some
accessories.
So I am I'm on board with thischange.
Blanchard, thank you ofchanging measurable to
motivating and adding in addingin this piece of motivation
(12:42):
really helps keep you focused onattaining that goal.
Then changing timely totrackable, that reinserts the
measurable piece back into theword smart.
Because if something istrackable, that implies a
timeline, it implies that thereare milestones, there's
something kind of keeping you onpace because you're having to
(13:02):
track it.
And I wanna talk aboutmotivation here for just a
second, because motivation isdefinitely a it's a big part of
goals, and I found an article onBetter Up called how Motivation
Helps in Achieving Goals and itwas written by Erin Ita and she
(13:23):
said motivation is bestdescribed as the process that
drives you to perform a task orbehavior.
It's that feeling where youfeel compelled to complete your
goal.
And then there are two types ofmotivation that she writes
about in the article.
These are ones that we act onevery single day.
The first one is extrinsicmotivation, and this refers to
(13:44):
external factors that drive youtoward the goal, and it could be
a paycheck, it could be thefear of not getting a paycheck
if you're in commission.
It could be, you know, apositive or a negative
motivation, but it's somethingoutside.
She gives the example here ofthink about, like if, when
(14:04):
you're a student, achieving agood grade is a positive
motivator and avoiding thefailing grade is a negative one,
right, you fear getting a lowgrade, so you're gonna try to
achieve a good grade.
Intrinsic motivation thisfocuses on the internal factors
(14:24):
that encourage you, and so thismight be something that you're
passionate about, somethingyou're trying to accomplish for
your own benefit.
And so think about this as,like you wanna run a marathon,
right, you want to accomplishthat for your own benefit.
I don't know of anybody that'smost everybody I know that's run
(14:45):
a marathon or run longdistances, including myself when
I ran, but you know it was formy own benefit, it wasn't for
anybody else, it wasn't.
I wasn't, you know, scared ofsomebody.
You know like failing somethingor whatever.
So for me, like running the 10Kright.
That came from inside.
(15:06):
That was an internal motivation.
It was intrinsic Goals also,they can.
This was one of my favoritequotes from the article.
I think it's fantastic.
So she wrote goals increaseyour motivation, but you need
the motivation to take stepstoward your goals.
(15:27):
This is a classic chicken andegg situation.
She's 100% correct.
She talks about, like it's hardto know which comes first
because neither of them do.
Setting a goal right, she said,it may motivate you, but you
might feel motivated to set thegoal, and failing to achieve a
(15:51):
goal has been proven to hinderyour motivation and self-esteem,
and setting and achievingrealistic goals is crucial to
keeping your brain motivated andfocused.
Oh, okay, man, like it's.
Like it is kind of the chicken,the egg, like where's the?
You know where's the ball underthe cup?
Kind of situation.
Here, both extrinsic andintrinsic motivation help you
(16:18):
achieve your goals right.
They each have a specific role,though, and so she says
external motivators are greatfor achieving short-term and
long-term milestones, and youcan reward yourself each time
you reach, like, a fitness goalor you nail a presentation at
work.
Intrinsic motivators, though,those are needed for those
(16:38):
long-term commitments, those youknow it's.
You know very, I think aboutrunning a marathon.
That's.
I don't know why this is on mymind today.
I'm not going to run in themarathon.
Oh, I didn't run marathon.
Sorry, anyways, I digress, butlike.
(16:59):
So she says here, like externalmotivators, rewarding yourself
each time you reach a fitnessgoal, and I think that's.
You know, if you, if you thinkabout running a marathon, maybe
part of an external motivatorwould be getting that medal,
like, especially if you run likean iconic one or something like
the Boston Marathon or the NewYork City Marathon, the Chicago
(17:23):
Marathon right, those are likepretty iconic races and so like
that's.
You know that's a reward,that's an external reward.
But to get you there you had tohave that intrinsic motivator,
that internal one, becausethat's a long-term commitment.
I most people could not justpick up today and say I'm going
(17:44):
to go run a marathon and offthey go.
That's a long term commitment,getting there.
So you've got to.
You've got to take both ofthese into account because they
both serve a very specific role.
I want to go.
I want to talk a little bitmore, though, about the chicken
(18:05):
and the egg thing.
My notes were out of order, somy apologies.
When she said in here about youthat setting a goal might help
motivate you, but you might feelmotivated to set the goal right
, and then failing to achievethe goal has been proven to
hinder your motivation andself-esteem.
Absolutely Like that.
(18:27):
That can man.
It can knock you down if youare trying to hit a goal and you
don't hit it.
It can absolutely like set youback a little bit.
It can maybe hit yourself asteam a little bit.
The part about that, though, isthat if we go back to the very
beginning of the podcast, when Italked about the reflection
part, where you grow and change,that's what happens then.
(18:52):
That's how you get yourmotivation, your self-esteem
back.
Is you look back and say whatcould I've done differently,
what else could make this easierwhen I do this the next time?
And then, from there, you setanother goal, you set a
realistic goal right, you setsmall goals.
You get that self-esteem, thatmotivation comes back, and it
(19:14):
keeps you motivated and focused.
So it is kind of this like thecircle thing you can't have one
without the other.
I don't want to get uscompletely off course here and
diving into motivation, so I'mgoing to put a pin in it for
right now, but I'll make surethat I talk through this a
little bit more in an upcomingepisode.
If you are not following orsubscribed to the podcast at
(19:35):
this time, please do so now.
It's just a little followbutton on Apple.
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If you're over there on theYouTube, you can hit the little
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You can also subscribe to thenewsletter and that will get you
(19:56):
the podcast right in your emailevery time it comes out.
All, right back on track, let'sgo.
So.
The change of measurable tomotivating and timely to
trackable that wasn't the maingame changer.
Like I said, that kind of likethat started that like flip the
switch, but the electricalcurrent that made the light bulb
(20:19):
go off this is the game changeris to think about smart goals,
but you want to reorder theletters and you want to make
them stram goals.
It doesn't quite roll off thetongue like smart goals, but
think what you think about stramgoals.
(20:40):
And so there's an article fromBlanchard and oh my gosh, I
think it was written in.
Oh my God, I think I even oh,there it is.
I was like did I close it?
This is written in 2014.
So this, this is an older,older article, but this is where
(21:03):
this comes from, so I know it'sbeen around for a long time.
Why did I?
Where did I miss this?
I missed this.
Okay, from this Blanchardarticle.
He writes the leaders shoulddescribe the specific goal and
when and how often that needs tobe accomplished, and then the
leader needs to make sure thatgoal is trackable.
(21:23):
Right, how will progress orperformance be tracked or
measured?
So those are the first twothings specific, trackable.
Those are the two things thatyou need and there are two
examples in this article that hethat he gives.
The first one is producemonthly financial reports.
Is that a stram goal?
(21:46):
Or at least the ST is at the stpart of the goal no, so let's
make this a little bit morespecific and trackable Submit
accurate and timely financialreports on a bi-monthly basis
for the next 12 months, asmeasured by end user feedback.
So that gives the S and the Tthe specific and the trackable.
(22:10):
So the specific here wassubmitting accurate and timely
financial reports, and then thetrackable part is we're gonna
submit them on a bi-monthlybasis for the next 12 months and
then, once you have those twothings in place the specific and
(22:30):
the trackable, then the leaderand the team member, or you and
your manager, or you just ingeneral, if you're sending them
for yourselves.
This is when you review thethree other elements relevant,
attainable and motivating.
Those are the three things thathelp you check to see if the
goal is truly smart.
This is the part that blew mymind, because hearing it said
(23:01):
like this let me say this againonce the S and T are in place,
then you can review the otherthree elements relevant,
attainable and motivating tocheck if the goal is truly smart
.
Do you know what that means?
This is what it meant to me.
All I ever needed to do waswrite down the S and the T.
(23:22):
That's all I ever needed, andthen I just needed to follow up
and make sure that it wasrelevant, attainable and then
measurable.
Motivating you mean to tell meI wasted all that paper and all
that time and all thatbrainpower and writing all of
these things that I didn't needto.
That was this was the lightbulb for me, and maybe it's not
(23:48):
for you and that's okay, butthis for me, this is when it hit
home, because this makes it somuch easier.
It's easier to explain.
It's easier to decide if it's asmart goal.
I mean literally.
I remember in classes learningabout smart goals and we would
(24:09):
have to figure out is this asmart goal?
And they would put something upon the board.
We had to do that stuff.
But with this you don't have todo that.
Put out the specific goal, makesure it's trackable and then
you check the other three itemsand if the other three items are
there, then it's a smart goal,and if they're not, you gotta
(24:33):
figure out how to put it there.
So it is a truly smart goal.
The article goes on to say thatthe leader has the
responsibility for making surethat the goal is relevant by
ensuring that the goal isimportant and then accomplishing
the goal will make a differencein the organization.
Absolutely, especially ifyou're.
If this is a leader team membertype of conversation in setting
(24:53):
these goals is the leader isresponsible for making sure that
that goal is relevant to thebusiness.
It's going to help that personaccomplish something that will
help the business.
And then he says the leader andteam member will work together
to make sure the goal isattainable.
Right, is it realistic andachievable?
It has to be those two things,and when a goal is too difficult
(25:16):
to accomplish, people may giveup, and when it's too easy,
people may procrastinate.
So you have to work together tomake sure that it's attainable.
And that's a conversation.
That's simply, I think, aboutrecent conversations I've had
with my team and I will.
We'll go over like here's whatI've asked you to do Can you get
(25:38):
this to me by this date?
Is that attainable?
And we had that discussion andthen maybe, if it's kind of a
little bit of a bigger thing,you know, we may say, okay, well
, let me break, let's break itdown and let's have a checkpoint
here for this and then makethat the final date.
So working together with yourleader in the work setting to
(26:02):
make sure that goal isattainable is really, really key
.
And then, ultimately, each teammember is going to determine
for themselves if the goal ismotivating Right by considering
if it is exciting and meaningfulRight.
Will this goal well, workingtoward this goal drain energy
from their work experience orwill it add enjoyment?
(26:22):
Will the goal help buildcompetence, relationships or
autonomy Right?
Is the goal going to get themup in the morning to come to
work?
Not every goal does that, I'mgonna be honest.
Sometimes the motivation isjust I need to get it done.
Because I have to, I need toget it off my plate.
(26:43):
Sometimes that's the meaningfulpart of a goal when you get
down to like some nitty grittythings.
But having the conversationsand knowing your part in setting
the goal in the workplace istruly, truly important.
So I got a couple of examplesI'm gonna give you in a second,
(27:06):
but I wanna we're gonna coverthis one more time.
For those of you who are maybedriving washing dishes, anything
like that, where you know maybeyou're not yeah, you do, like
me, when I do a podcast, Ilisten to podcasts when I'm, you
know, washing dishes andfolding laundry and you know
walking around the house, likethat's when I do it.
(27:27):
I don't always have my pen andpaper, so let me circle back
around.
So, in a business setting, soat work.
So, leaders, leaders and teams,when you are setting goals, you
want to first make sure theyare specific and trackable.
Once you have those, then youwant to review the three other
(27:52):
elements together to make surethat it's a truly smart goal.
And, leaders, you're going tobe the one that makes sure that
that goal is relevant for yourteam member and then, together
with your team member, you'regoing to make sure that it's
attainable, that it's not goingto be too much or too little on
(28:12):
their plate with everything elsethat they have going on.
And then, team members, it'syour responsibility to make sure
that it's motivating.
And if it's not, you got tospeak up Like, well, give me a
why.
What's in it for me?
What can, what will make memotivated about this goal that I
need to accomplish?
(28:32):
So there's another article thatwas came from the website
kimblanchardbookscom.
There's lots of Blangerwebsites, by the way.
I think it's kind of funny.
I found multiples when I wasdoing this research.
I'm going to start with theorganizational goal first and
(28:53):
I'm going to work backwards whenI give these from the article
this was written by oh again, hiagain, thanks for writing the
article.
So the organizational goalexample that he gives is confirm
that 90% of team members havecompleted new inventory
(29:15):
management software training forthe end of the third quarter.
The goal is specific.
The company knows exactly whatthey need to do and when they
when they want it.
It's trackable 90 people will,or 90% of people will need to
complete the training by thedeadline of the third quarter.
It's relevant, it's right, it'simportant for the entire team
(29:36):
to merge together on this newplatform, which is, you know,
more efficient than theircurrent platform.
Is it attainable?
Well, a majority of the peoplehave already completed it, right
, so it's, it's web based, it'seasily accessible.
So, yeah, it's attainable toget the rest of them, you know,
trained up.
And is it motivating?
Oh my gosh, we're eager forbetter productivity.
(29:57):
Right, listen, we're motivatedto get the rest of the team
train because it helps withproductivity.
So it's very, it's.
This is very.
This is a very easy goal.
It feels like a very bland goal, but it's.
It's exactly what we need forlike an organizational goal.
Right, confirm that 90% of theteam members have completed a
(30:18):
new inventory managementsoftware training for the end of
the third quarter.
If you would have asked methree weeks ago, was this a
smart goal?
I would have told you no.
I would have told you no, buttoday I'm telling you it
absolutely is.
Let's, we're going to get,we're going to back this down
(30:39):
here.
Let's talk about a careerrelated goal, and so this is
another example from thisarticle that Ken wrote, and it
says I will earn a promotion tosenior customer service
representative by completing therequired training modules in
three months and applying forthe role at the end of the next
quarter.
So, the goal specific right,the person knows exactly what
they want and when they want it.
(30:59):
It's trackable.
They got training that theyneed to complete in three months
and then they're going to applyfor the job.
The file, the following quarter.
It's relevant right, the it'simportant to rise to a new level
for them.
Right, it's going to make adifference in their income and
their stature.
It's attainable.
Right, the training will firstprovide the skills to qualify
(31:20):
for them, them for theirpromotion, and then it's
motivating.
It's an exciting career move,it's a new challenge, it's
higher pay.
So, yeah, this is absolutely asmart goal.
Right, I will earn a promotionto senior customer service
representative by completing therequired training modules in
three months and applying forthe role at the end of the
quarter.
Like that's super, super simpleand super smart.
(31:45):
Now let's talk about personalgoals, because we've talked
about this a lot in the, in theaspect of leadership and
development, that type of thing.
And so in a personal goal,there is a he says from an
(32:05):
example from from a book andthat he wrote with, uh, with
someone, and so, um, the goalmentioned somebody's name, so
just, I'm just going to saytheir name.
It's just, it's all makes sense, Don't worry.
Um so uh.
He says now this, this goal israther long, but it is smart.
(32:25):
Um so uh, the smart goal herefor a personal goal right In one
year, through an effectiveeating plan and exercise program
with guidance, support andprogress tracking from Tim, I
will weigh less than 200 pounds.
I will gain one inch in heightthrough posture specific
exercises, reduce my nextcircumference and chest
(32:47):
circumference by one inch,reduce my waist measurement by
five inches and my hipmeasurement by four, and get rid
of my fat pants.
Oh, my goodness, so this wasactually.
This was.
This was a book.
This was a book.
This was a goal that that Kenactually had for himself, um,
(33:11):
and I think it's great that heshared it and he's right, it's a
little bit long, but it's veryspecific and it's very trackable
and it's got those like kind ofthose milestones in there.
Um, that can keep him motivated, um can keep him focused on the
attainability of the goal andthe fact that it is very
(33:32):
relevant, um to what he wants todo.
He wants to be healthier.
I love that.
I really feel like I neededthat.
I need to write a goal.
That specific, goodnessgracious, okay, um, now, uh,
you've uh, right, so you're.
(33:54):
So this is, you know, back tolike that light bulb moment,
right, with the change tomotivating from measurable, uh,
that light switch flipped, theelectrical current went to the
light bulb and it said dang, youonly have to write down
specific and trackable.
You just need to make sure thatthose words are relevant,
attainable and motivating to you.
That's my light bulb momentAbsolutely, wow, wow.
(34:20):
I mean, oh, man, and you know,maybe I wasn't writing in all of
the goal every time, uh, butthinking of the goal in order,
of smart, right, it can, it caneasily throw you off base, Um,
when you're, when you're tryingto write it down.
(34:41):
But when you move to that othermethod of SRAM or ST RAM, um,
you get to focus on the actionand then you're checking in to
make sure that you're reallymeeting the second part, um, you
could even think of it like asmart sandwich, right, cause you
(35:01):
have specific and trackable.
Are your?
Are your buns, um, and so?
So the meat in the middle,right?
What makes that sandwich, um,so good is the relevant,
attainable and motivating parts.
So how about that?
I like that analogy.
I like a good sandwich, um, so,yeah, so there you go.
(35:24):
You can think about it, uh, oneof two ways, but specific and
trackable are the first twothings that you need to think
about.
And then make sure that it isrelevant, attainable and
motivating.
If you have those three thingsin what you wrote down, then you
have a smart goal.
Uh, setting goals.
Bring this back together, right?
(35:45):
Setting goals is important, butif you aren't taking that time
to make sure you meet thatcriteria of smart, you're not
going to get very far.
Make sure you're checking inregularly, um, on your
motivation.
Uh, and you know you're, you'rechecking in at those little
checkpoints.
Keep yourself motivated toattain that goal.
Keep reflecting back andlearning, uh, from the things
(36:07):
that you've done.
That's going to wrap it up fortoday's topic.
Please make sure that you'vesigned up for the newsletter so
you can get a copy of thisepisode, of this episode.
Well, you're listening, uh, acopy of any episode that I put
out, delivered right to yourinbox.
If you go to the polkadeskcom,there's a sign up box right on
(36:27):
the main page.
Bing, uh, that is thepolkadeskcom, um, and make sure
that you connect with me onLinkedIn or on Instagram.
You can get there from thelinks in the description or from
the website.
What is that again?
The polkadeskcom?
Uh, and I'll be back in twoweeks with another episode to
help you connect the dots andlead the way.
(36:49):
And until then, remember thatyou're loved, you're worthy and
there are great things ahead foryou in this life If you trust
and believe in the Lord.
Bye.
Goals increase your motivation, but you need the
motivation to take steps towardyour goals.
This is a classic chicken andegg situation.
Are you trying to be a betterleader, Change industries, reset
after a layoff, or just lookingfor ways to bring your whole
self to work?
Well, you're in the right place.
(00:20):
Hello and welcome to theConnect the Dots podcast, where
I am focused on helping youthrough these situations and
more, by sharing real lifestories and practical tips.
I'm here to support you throughcoaching and mentorship, along
with some amazing guests.
Hello and welcome to Connectthe Dots.
Lead the Way.
I'm your host, heather Balseric.
I am a white female with shortstrawberry blonde hair.
(00:42):
I am wearing tortoise shellglasses and a gray t-shirt.
I'm standing in front of a tealwall with multiple pieces of
art displayed and have abookcase over to my right.
In today's episode, we are goingto talk about why we should set
goals.
We're going to look at thehistory of the smart goal.
We're going to dive a littlebit into motivation and then
(01:05):
we're going to refresh our wayof thinking about smart goals.
I'm going to give you a littlebit of the light bulb moment
that I had a couple of weeks ago.
So why should we set goals?
Why are goals important?
The Bard Center of SimpleEngagement said that goal
setting can be daunting but canbe the key when executing a
(01:27):
project and, once accomplished,goal setting provides a place
for reflection to identify areasfor future growth or change.
And while this is talkingspecifically about goals at work
goals, you have goals in allparts of your life, and the part
(01:48):
where it talks about itprovides a place for reflection
and to identify areas of futuregrowth or change.
I think that's the key partwith a goal, because you may not
always hit your goal.
Maybe you don't hit your goalin the time that you want to, or
maybe you just don't hit thegoal.
Whatever it is, it's thatopportunity to look back and say
(02:11):
, oh, you know what, I could doit differently this time.
I could do this a little bitdifferently.
Or, oh, that was a really goodway to do that.
I need to make sure I do thatgoing forward when I do
something similar.
That's probably part of thegoal setting process that we
don't do enough of is reflection, so maybe you will dive into
(02:32):
that in the future, but let'sstay right here right now as far
as why goals are important andwhy we set goals.
In this same article, theylisted why set goals right.
Because what can goal settingdo?
And so some of the things thatthey listed was it can add value
to the work that you're doing.
(02:53):
It can help disseminate theworkload more evenly.
It can allow you to assess yourprogress along the way, manage
your time more effectively,which can diminish burnout or
needless work.
I talked about burnout in themini series just last week, so
if you did not listen to thatepisode, I encourage you, when
(03:15):
you get done with this one, goback and find that one, because
we really need to try to doanything that we can to diminish
that burnout.
Don't get to that point.
But goals can define success,give you clarity in that they
can demonstrate to your thatyour organization is going to
(03:37):
provide meaning sorry,manageable task.
And, last but not least, ontheir list, which I think is so
funny but they will help youwork smarter, not harder.
Of all the things that could bein here, I thought it was so
funny that they ended with worksmarter, not harder.
(03:58):
I say that probably a couple oftimes a week because it really
is important, and the way thatyou work smarter, not harder, is
when you are like trying to getto a goal, if you have a
setback, or when you get donewith the goal and you look back
upon it.
It's learning from those things.
It's learning from what youmight consider a failure.
(04:18):
It's taking those and makingthem opportunities to get better
.
That's how goals help you worksmarter, not harder.
But the grand father of them allis the smart goal.
Whenever you were probablytaught how to write goals, you
(04:39):
probably learned the smartmethod Probably I mean, it's the
one that's most prevalent in mylife and I never looked up to
see like well, where did it comefrom?
Who made it up Like any of that?
But the um, that article fromum, from the civil engagement
group um, said that smart goalswere developed by George Doran,
(05:01):
arthur Miller and JamesCunningham in their 1981 article
there's a Smart Way to WriteManagement Goals and Objectives.
And that article is older thanme, so, uh, it's a wise wisdom.
Uh is what we'll say, but Ithink about before I go into the
acronym uh, cause you're allprobably going.
(05:23):
Okay, heather, we know whatsmart means, right, we're gonna
go over it, though, when I thinkabout the thing, the title of
this article right, it's thesmart way to write management
goals and objectives.
And I feel like, while smartgoals are a great framework let
me not take that out of contextlike smart goals are a great
(05:45):
framework.
I think it's funny how it'sthey started as management goals
and objectives and how theykind of trickled into everywhere
else and I don't know.
I feel like there could be sometweaking and and and like how
we do these things, and we'llcome back around that to that at
the end when I give you mylight bulb moment that I had.
But smart, what does it standfor?
(06:07):
Specific, measurable,attainable, realistic, timely.
Uh, you may have also heard itas, um, the R being relevant
versus realistic and the T beingtime bound versus timely.
And you know, I don't rememberat what point I learned about
smart goals.
(06:27):
Um, I want to say it wasprobably early in my sales
career 2003, 2004.
And we would have to write outour goals every month and we'd
review them with our manager.
Maybe, maybe not Um, but we hadsheets, right, we had.
I really remembered this and Iwish I could find one and I
would like link it out.
(06:48):
Maybe I'll look for it.
But, um, we had sheets thatsaid right, specific, measurable
, attainable, relevant, time,bound, like we would have to
fill in these blanks every monthon the different goals that we
wanted to do.
And as, of course, as I moved upinto leadership, I continued
this practice of having peoplewrite smart goals.
Duh, because that's what you do, right, um?
(07:11):
And if I look back, I'm prettysure that one of the last
trainings that I wrote just ayear ago probably probably
talked about writing smart goals.
There, too, if, um, if you'venever written a smart goal, or
if you've ever found smart goalwriting hard, because I'm going
to raise my hand on that one um,I hated writing smart goals.
(07:34):
Uh, they were daunting anddifficult, they were terrible.
Hated them, that's a strongword, but I did absolutely my
least favorite thing I ever hadto do was write smart goals, and
I've done a lot of them overthe past 20 years.
Um, but let me give you anexample of what a smart goal
(07:55):
might have looked like when Iwas in sales.
Um, so I sold um cell phones.
Uh, so I worked in the wirelessindustry, and one of our goals
was always accessories, becausethat's where they make their
money.
Um, so you had a goal to sell,like, um, like three, you know
three accessories um to everyphone, right?
(08:17):
So your overall average, somaybe one person buys five
accessories and one person justcomes in and buys um one
accessory, right, it's the sixover the ones.
That would be a six dot O ratio.
We're going to say that math isright.
Just go with me.
Okay, um, but like typically um, our goal would be like three
right, a three dot O accessorytake rate.
(08:38):
So when I would write out thissmart goal, um specific right, I
want to sell um so manyaccessories, um, in order to
attain a three dot O accessorytake rate, um, and so how this
(09:01):
may look on the sheet, that wasa terrible smart goal.
Let me, sorry y'all, like I'mtrying to think about this on
the fly, but let's go Okay,specific, uh, the specific goal
that I wanted to do, right, isattain a, an accessory take rate
of three dot O.
Is that measurable?
How am I going to measure thatgoal?
I'm going to measure that by um, you know, taking the number of
(09:22):
accessories I sell and dividingit by the number of phones that
I sell.
And I will confirm that withour um, you know, our metric
tracker, kpi tracker thing, uh,that the system automatically
does Um, is this an attainablegoal?
Um, yes, this is an attainablegoal.
I've hit it before I can hit itagain.
Um, is it a relevant goal?
(09:43):
I'm going to go with relevantover realistic here.
Um, is it relevant?
Well, yeah, I was in sales.
Duh, I needed to sell thoseaccessories because it made me
more money, made the companymore money?
Uh, and then was it time bound?
Yep, because that was my goalfor the month.
So, uh, that's kind of what itwould look like on a sheet.
Typically, that was we justfill in those boxes, talk about
(10:05):
them with our manager.
Are they good with it, are theynot?
What can we do?
Um, and again, like I said,daunting, so daunting and so
difficult and just, uh, I mean,if you've ever had to write
smart goals like that, it feelsterrible.
I mean, maybe I'm.
(10:27):
Just I don't think I'm the onlyperson.
If, if I'm the only person, Imean, I guess let me know.
But I don't think so.
If you also did not likewriting smart goals, let me know
.
But stay with me because I'mgonna give you something at the
end, my light bulb moment, thatnow I'm all about some smart
(10:47):
goals.
So stick with me.
But before we get into thisnext part, I do wanna pause and
say thank you.
Thank you for listening to thispodcast.
I hope that you're enjoying itso far and if you are, could you
take a quick moment and give ita rating or review?
Or, if you've already donethose things, could you share it
with someone?
I really would love to be insharing reviews on the podcast.
(11:11):
So if you would write me alittle review, I will happily
feature that on the upcomingepisodes.
So thank you in advance.
Let's go into this next partand kind of flipping the script
a little bit on the smart goal,and so this is the first piece.
This is like the light bulbmoment for me.
(11:32):
This is like the switch liketurned on with the electrical
current hadn't gotten to thelight bulb yet.
Okay, but I went throughsituational leadership too,
which is a Blanchard course.
I went through that a couple ofweeks ago and this is where
these things started to likejust blow my mind.
And Blanchard, he changed acouple of the letters, like what
(11:56):
the letters mean, and the firstone they changed was M.
So that was measurable, right.
He changed it to motivating,and then he took the T and
changed it from timely totrackable.
And when I think about, likethe definition of a smart goal
before, like the example that itgave you of like trying to hit
(12:17):
a certain accessory take ratenumber, that was not motivating
at all, like there was nothingabout that goal that made me
excited, nothing about that mademe wanna go out and sell some
accessories.
So I am I'm on board with thischange.
Blanchard, thank you ofchanging measurable to
motivating and adding in addingin this piece of motivation
(12:42):
really helps keep you focused onattaining that goal.
Then changing timely totrackable, that reinserts the
measurable piece back into theword smart.
Because if something istrackable, that implies a
timeline, it implies that thereare milestones, there's
something kind of keeping you onpace because you're having to
(13:02):
track it.
And I wanna talk aboutmotivation here for just a
second, because motivation isdefinitely a it's a big part of
goals, and I found an article onBetter Up called how Motivation
Helps in Achieving Goals and itwas written by Erin Ita and she
(13:23):
said motivation is bestdescribed as the process that
drives you to perform a task orbehavior.
It's that feeling where youfeel compelled to complete your
goal.
And then there are two types ofmotivation that she writes
about in the article.
These are ones that we act onevery single day.
The first one is extrinsicmotivation, and this refers to
(13:44):
external factors that drive youtoward the goal, and it could be
a paycheck, it could be thefear of not getting a paycheck
if you're in commission.
It could be, you know, apositive or a negative
motivation, but it's somethingoutside.
She gives the example here ofthink about, like if, when
(14:04):
you're a student, achieving agood grade is a positive
motivator and avoiding thefailing grade is a negative one,
right, you fear getting a lowgrade, so you're gonna try to
achieve a good grade.
Intrinsic motivation thisfocuses on the internal factors
(14:24):
that encourage you, and so thismight be something that you're
passionate about, somethingyou're trying to accomplish for
your own benefit.
And so think about this as,like you wanna run a marathon,
right, you want to accomplishthat for your own benefit.
I don't know of anybody that'smost everybody I know that's run
(14:45):
a marathon or run longdistances, including myself when
I ran, but you know it was formy own benefit, it wasn't for
anybody else, it wasn't.
I wasn't, you know, scared ofsomebody.
You know like failing somethingor whatever.
So for me, like running the 10Kright.
That came from inside.
(15:06):
That was an internal motivation.
It was intrinsic Goals also,they can.
This was one of my favoritequotes from the article.
I think it's fantastic.
So she wrote goals increaseyour motivation, but you need
the motivation to take stepstoward your goals.
(15:27):
This is a classic chicken andegg situation.
She's 100% correct.
She talks about, like it's hardto know which comes first
because neither of them do.
Setting a goal right, she said,it may motivate you, but you
might feel motivated to set thegoal, and failing to achieve a
(15:51):
goal has been proven to hinderyour motivation and self-esteem,
and setting and achievingrealistic goals is crucial to
keeping your brain motivated andfocused.
Oh, okay, man, like it's.
Like it is kind of the chicken,the egg, like where's the?
You know where's the ball underthe cup?
Kind of situation.
Here, both extrinsic andintrinsic motivation help you
(16:18):
achieve your goals right.
They each have a specific role,though, and so she says
external motivators are greatfor achieving short-term and
long-term milestones, and youcan reward yourself each time
you reach, like, a fitness goalor you nail a presentation at
work.
Intrinsic motivators, though,those are needed for those
(16:38):
long-term commitments, those youknow it's.
You know very, I think aboutrunning a marathon.
That's.
I don't know why this is on mymind today.
I'm not going to run in themarathon.
Oh, I didn't run marathon.
Sorry, anyways, I digress, butlike.
(16:59):
So she says here, like externalmotivators, rewarding yourself
each time you reach a fitnessgoal, and I think that's.
You know, if you, if you thinkabout running a marathon, maybe
part of an external motivatorwould be getting that medal,
like, especially if you run likean iconic one or something like
the Boston Marathon or the NewYork City Marathon, the Chicago
(17:23):
Marathon right, those are likepretty iconic races and so like
that's.
You know that's a reward,that's an external reward.
But to get you there you had tohave that intrinsic motivator,
that internal one, becausethat's a long-term commitment.
I most people could not justpick up today and say I'm going
(17:44):
to go run a marathon and offthey go.
That's a long term commitment,getting there.
So you've got to.
You've got to take both ofthese into account because they
both serve a very specific role.
I want to go.
I want to talk a little bitmore, though, about the chicken
(18:05):
and the egg thing.
My notes were out of order, somy apologies.
When she said in here about youthat setting a goal might help
motivate you, but you might feelmotivated to set the goal right
, and then failing to achievethe goal has been proven to
hinder your motivation andself-esteem.
Absolutely Like that.
(18:27):
That can man.
It can knock you down if youare trying to hit a goal and you
don't hit it.
It can absolutely like set youback a little bit.
It can maybe hit yourself asteam a little bit.
The part about that, though, isthat if we go back to the very
beginning of the podcast, when Italked about the reflection
part, where you grow and change,that's what happens then.
(18:52):
That's how you get yourmotivation, your self-esteem
back.
Is you look back and say whatcould I've done differently,
what else could make this easierwhen I do this the next time?
And then, from there, you setanother goal, you set a
realistic goal right, you setsmall goals.
You get that self-esteem, thatmotivation comes back, and it
(19:14):
keeps you motivated and focused.
So it is kind of this like thecircle thing you can't have one
without the other.
I don't want to get uscompletely off course here and
diving into motivation, so I'mgoing to put a pin in it for
right now, but I'll make surethat I talk through this a
little bit more in an upcomingepisode.
If you are not following orsubscribed to the podcast at
(19:35):
this time, please do so now.
It's just a little followbutton on Apple.
It's a check mark on Spotify.
If you're over there on theYouTube, you can hit the little
subscribe button and thenotification bell Make sure you
don't miss an episode.
You can also subscribe to thenewsletter and that will get you
(19:56):
the podcast right in your emailevery time it comes out.
All, right back on track, let'sgo.
So.
The change of measurable tomotivating and timely to
trackable that wasn't the maingame changer.
Like I said, that kind of likethat started that like flip the
switch, but the electricalcurrent that made the light bulb
(20:19):
go off this is the game changeris to think about smart goals,
but you want to reorder theletters and you want to make
them stram goals.
It doesn't quite roll off thetongue like smart goals, but
think what you think about stramgoals.
(20:40):
And so there's an article fromBlanchard and oh my gosh, I
think it was written in.
Oh my God, I think I even oh,there it is.
I was like did I close it?
This is written in 2014.
So this, this is an older,older article, but this is where
(21:03):
this comes from, so I know it'sbeen around for a long time.
Why did I?
Where did I miss this?
I missed this.
Okay, from this Blanchardarticle.
He writes the leaders shoulddescribe the specific goal and
when and how often that needs tobe accomplished, and then the
leader needs to make sure thatgoal is trackable.
(21:23):
Right, how will progress orperformance be tracked or
measured?
So those are the first twothings specific, trackable.
Those are the two things thatyou need and there are two
examples in this article that hethat he gives.
The first one is producemonthly financial reports.
Is that a stram goal?
(21:46):
Or at least the ST is at the stpart of the goal no, so let's
make this a little bit morespecific and trackable Submit
accurate and timely financialreports on a bi-monthly basis
for the next 12 months, asmeasured by end user feedback.
So that gives the S and the Tthe specific and the trackable.
(22:10):
So the specific here wassubmitting accurate and timely
financial reports, and then thetrackable part is we're gonna
submit them on a bi-monthlybasis for the next 12 months and
then, once you have those twothings in place the specific and
(22:30):
the trackable, then the leaderand the team member, or you and
your manager, or you just ingeneral, if you're sending them
for yourselves.
This is when you review thethree other elements relevant,
attainable and motivating.
Those are the three things thathelp you check to see if the
goal is truly smart.
This is the part that blew mymind, because hearing it said
(23:01):
like this let me say this againonce the S and T are in place,
then you can review the otherthree elements relevant,
attainable and motivating tocheck if the goal is truly smart
.
Do you know what that means?
This is what it meant to me.
All I ever needed to do waswrite down the S and the T.
(23:22):
That's all I ever needed, andthen I just needed to follow up
and make sure that it wasrelevant, attainable and then
measurable.
Motivating you mean to tell meI wasted all that paper and all
that time and all thatbrainpower and writing all of
these things that I didn't needto.
That was this was the lightbulb for me, and maybe it's not
(23:48):
for you and that's okay, butthis for me, this is when it hit
home, because this makes it somuch easier.
It's easier to explain.
It's easier to decide if it's asmart goal.
I mean literally.
I remember in classes learningabout smart goals and we would
(24:09):
have to figure out is this asmart goal?
And they would put something upon the board.
We had to do that stuff.
But with this you don't have todo that.
Put out the specific goal, makesure it's trackable and then
you check the other three itemsand if the other three items are
there, then it's a smart goal,and if they're not, you gotta
(24:33):
figure out how to put it there.
So it is a truly smart goal.
The article goes on to say thatthe leader has the
responsibility for making surethat the goal is relevant by
ensuring that the goal isimportant and then accomplishing
the goal will make a differencein the organization.
Absolutely, especially ifyou're.
If this is a leader team membertype of conversation in setting
(24:53):
these goals is the leader isresponsible for making sure that
that goal is relevant to thebusiness.
It's going to help that personaccomplish something that will
help the business.
And then he says the leader andteam member will work together
to make sure the goal isattainable.
Right, is it realistic andachievable?
It has to be those two things,and when a goal is too difficult
(25:16):
to accomplish, people may giveup, and when it's too easy,
people may procrastinate.
So you have to work together tomake sure that it's attainable.
And that's a conversation.
That's simply, I think, aboutrecent conversations I've had
with my team and I will.
We'll go over like here's whatI've asked you to do Can you get
(25:38):
this to me by this date?
Is that attainable?
And we had that discussion andthen maybe, if it's kind of a
little bit of a bigger thing,you know, we may say, okay, well
, let me break, let's break itdown and let's have a checkpoint
here for this and then makethat the final date.
So working together with yourleader in the work setting to
(26:02):
make sure that goal isattainable is really, really key
.
And then, ultimately, each teammember is going to determine
for themselves if the goal ismotivating Right by considering
if it is exciting and meaningfulRight.
Will this goal well, workingtoward this goal drain energy
from their work experience orwill it add enjoyment?
(26:22):
Will the goal help buildcompetence, relationships or
autonomy Right?
Is the goal going to get themup in the morning to come to
work?
Not every goal does that, I'mgonna be honest.
Sometimes the motivation isjust I need to get it done.
Because I have to, I need toget it off my plate.
(26:43):
Sometimes that's the meaningfulpart of a goal when you get
down to like some nitty grittythings.
But having the conversationsand knowing your part in setting
the goal in the workplace istruly, truly important.
So I got a couple of examplesI'm gonna give you in a second,
(27:06):
but I wanna we're gonna coverthis one more time.
For those of you who are maybedriving washing dishes, anything
like that, where you know maybeyou're not yeah, you do, like
me, when I do a podcast, Ilisten to podcasts when I'm, you
know, washing dishes andfolding laundry and you know
walking around the house, likethat's when I do it.
(27:27):
I don't always have my pen andpaper, so let me circle back
around.
So, in a business setting, soat work.
So, leaders, leaders and teams,when you are setting goals, you
want to first make sure theyare specific and trackable.
Once you have those, then youwant to review the three other
(27:52):
elements together to make surethat it's a truly smart goal.
And, leaders, you're going tobe the one that makes sure that
that goal is relevant for yourteam member and then, together
with your team member, you'regoing to make sure that it's
attainable, that it's not goingto be too much or too little on
(28:12):
their plate with everything elsethat they have going on.
And then, team members, it'syour responsibility to make sure
that it's motivating.
And if it's not, you got tospeak up Like, well, give me a
why.
What's in it for me?
What can, what will make memotivated about this goal that I
need to accomplish?
(28:32):
So there's another article thatwas came from the website
kimblanchardbookscom.
There's lots of Blangerwebsites, by the way.
I think it's kind of funny.
I found multiples when I wasdoing this research.
I'm going to start with theorganizational goal first and
(28:53):
I'm going to work backwards whenI give these from the article
this was written by oh again, hiagain, thanks for writing the
article.
So the organizational goalexample that he gives is confirm
that 90% of team members havecompleted new inventory
(29:15):
management software training forthe end of the third quarter.
The goal is specific.
The company knows exactly whatthey need to do and when they
when they want it.
It's trackable 90 people will,or 90% of people will need to
complete the training by thedeadline of the third quarter.
It's relevant, it's right, it'simportant for the entire team
(29:36):
to merge together on this newplatform, which is, you know,
more efficient than theircurrent platform.
Is it attainable?
Well, a majority of the peoplehave already completed it, right
, so it's, it's web based, it'seasily accessible.
So, yeah, it's attainable toget the rest of them, you know,
trained up.
And is it motivating?
Oh my gosh, we're eager forbetter productivity.
(29:57):
Right, listen, we're motivatedto get the rest of the team
train because it helps withproductivity.
So it's very, it's.
This is very.
This is a very easy goal.
It feels like a very bland goal, but it's.
It's exactly what we need forlike an organizational goal.
Right, confirm that 90% of theteam members have completed a
(30:18):
new inventory managementsoftware training for the end of
the third quarter.
If you would have asked methree weeks ago, was this a
smart goal?
I would have told you no.
I would have told you no, buttoday I'm telling you it
absolutely is.
Let's, we're going to get,we're going to back this down
(30:39):
here.
Let's talk about a careerrelated goal, and so this is
another example from thisarticle that Ken wrote, and it
says I will earn a promotion tosenior customer service
representative by completing therequired training modules in
three months and applying forthe role at the end of the next
quarter.
So, the goal specific right,the person knows exactly what
they want and when they want it.
(30:59):
It's trackable.
They got training that theyneed to complete in three months
and then they're going to applyfor the job.
The file, the following quarter.
It's relevant right, the it'simportant to rise to a new level
for them.
Right, it's going to make adifference in their income and
their stature.
It's attainable.
Right, the training will firstprovide the skills to qualify
(31:20):
for them, them for theirpromotion, and then it's
motivating.
It's an exciting career move,it's a new challenge, it's
higher pay.
So, yeah, this is absolutely asmart goal.
Right, I will earn a promotionto senior customer service
representative by completing therequired training modules in
three months and applying forthe role at the end of the
quarter.
Like that's super, super simpleand super smart.
(31:45):
Now let's talk about personalgoals, because we've talked
about this a lot in the, in theaspect of leadership and
development, that type of thing.
And so in a personal goal,there is a he says from an
(32:05):
example from from a book andthat he wrote with, uh, with
someone, and so, um, the goalmentioned somebody's name, so
just, I'm just going to saytheir name.
It's just, it's all makes sense, Don't worry.
Um so uh.
He says now this, this goal israther long, but it is smart.
(32:25):
Um so uh, the smart goal herefor a personal goal right In one
year, through an effectiveeating plan and exercise program
with guidance, support andprogress tracking from Tim, I
will weigh less than 200 pounds.
I will gain one inch in heightthrough posture specific
exercises, reduce my nextcircumference and chest
(32:47):
circumference by one inch,reduce my waist measurement by
five inches and my hipmeasurement by four, and get rid
of my fat pants.
Oh, my goodness, so this wasactually.
This was.
This was a book.
This was a book.
This was a goal that that Kenactually had for himself, um,
(33:11):
and I think it's great that heshared it and he's right, it's a
little bit long, but it's veryspecific and it's very trackable
and it's got those like kind ofthose milestones in there.
Um, that can keep him motivated, um can keep him focused on the
attainability of the goal andthe fact that it is very
(33:32):
relevant, um to what he wants todo.
He wants to be healthier.
I love that.
I really feel like I neededthat.
I need to write a goal.
That specific, goodnessgracious, okay, um, now, uh,
you've uh, right, so you're.
(33:54):
So this is, you know, back tolike that light bulb moment,
right, with the change tomotivating from measurable, uh,
that light switch flipped, theelectrical current went to the
light bulb and it said dang, youonly have to write down
specific and trackable.
You just need to make sure thatthose words are relevant,
attainable and motivating to you.
That's my light bulb momentAbsolutely, wow, wow.
(34:20):
I mean, oh, man, and you know,maybe I wasn't writing in all of
the goal every time, uh, butthinking of the goal in order,
of smart, right, it can, it caneasily throw you off base, Um,
when you're, when you're tryingto write it down.
(34:41):
But when you move to that othermethod of SRAM or ST RAM, um,
you get to focus on the actionand then you're checking in to
make sure that you're reallymeeting the second part, um, you
could even think of it like asmart sandwich, right, cause you
(35:01):
have specific and trackable.
Are your?
Are your buns, um, and so?
So the meat in the middle,right?
What makes that sandwich, um,so good is the relevant,
attainable and motivating parts.
So how about that?
I like that analogy.
I like a good sandwich, um, so,yeah, so there you go.
(35:24):
You can think about it, uh, oneof two ways, but specific and
trackable are the first twothings that you need to think
about.
And then make sure that it isrelevant, attainable and
motivating.
If you have those three thingsin what you wrote down, then you
have a smart goal.
Uh, setting goals.
Bring this back together, right?
(35:45):
Setting goals is important, butif you aren't taking that time
to make sure you meet thatcriteria of smart, you're not
going to get very far.
Make sure you're checking inregularly, um, on your
motivation.
Uh, and you know you're, you'rechecking in at those little
checkpoints.
Keep yourself motivated toattain that goal.
Keep reflecting back andlearning, uh, from the things
(36:07):
that you've done.
That's going to wrap it up fortoday's topic.
Please make sure that you'vesigned up for the newsletter so
you can get a copy of thisepisode, of this episode.
Well, you're listening, uh, acopy of any episode that I put
out, delivered right to yourinbox.
If you go to the polkadeskcom,there's a sign up box right on
(36:27):
the main page.
Bing, uh, that is thepolkadeskcom, um, and make sure
that you connect with me onLinkedIn or on Instagram.
You can get there from thelinks in the description or from
the website.
What is that again?
The polkadeskcom?
Uh, and I'll be back in twoweeks with another episode to
help you connect the dots andlead the way.
(36:49):
And until then, remember thatyou're loved, you're worthy and
there are great things ahead foryou in this life If you trust
and believe in the Lord.
Bye.
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