What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
– Zig Ziglar

It’s hard to say who first came up with the idea of setting SMART goals, but there are several variations on the S.M.A.R.T. goal idea. Here is one that works for me.

• S – Specific – Pin down exactly what you want to achieve.
• M – Measurable – Know how you’ll measure progress and, ultimately, achievement
• A – Achievable – Make it something realistic for you at this point in time.
• R – Relevant – How will it fit into the bigger picture of your life and values?
• T – Time-bound – Give yourself a deadline.

You won’t regret the time you spend defining and refining your goals. Giving yourself a clear target to aim for can make all the difference, especially if you tend to get distracted easily, like I do.

When you’ve decided which goals you want to track, fill in your Big Goal, Yearly Goal, and stepping stones for each month in your planner.

Keep your goal page and use it as a reference to decide what you might want to do the following year.

Brainstorming: What are your goals for this year? Month? Week?

Read the next article in this series: Use My Inspired Year to Develop Success Habits in Your Life

Read the first article in this series: Internal – Doing the Mental Work in Order to Succeed

Read the previous article in the series: Use My Inspired Year to Track Your Goals