SMART Method Turns New Year Goals Into Reality

It’s that time of year when people across the globe put pen to paper and write down their goals moving into the new year. It’s a tradition, but to many, it can be overwhelming and difficult to begin. So, what is the key to setting realistic and achievable goals? We asked life coach, Lucien Fitzgerald, who explained how to use the SMART technique for better results.

 

Lucien Fitzgerald, Life Coach

“The reality is that resolutions often lack a lot of things that make your goals attainable. But to be realistic with yourself, I use a simple technique or a simple acronym, which is SMART. So you make it specific, you make it measurable, attainable, relevant or realistic to you. And also time-bound. Once you use that technique you are bounded to almost always achieve your goals. So, specific, you need to identify a specific goal that you would want to accomplish. So for example, say you’re in the restaurant business and you said, okay, I want to expand my staff to two persons. Okay. I’m going to expand my staff to two persons. That’s a specific goal to make it measurable by when do we want, or we already said the measurable part. Want to expand staff. No, I need two individuals. So now, I have two individuals. To make it attainable. Is it realistic? Do I look at my performance at last year? What do I need to change to make that attainable to make it relevant or realistic? Is it realistic? Can I really accomplish this within the time that I’ve bet? And then also time bong by when do I want to accomplish it? Do I want to accomplish it by March, 2026 or December, 2026? All of these things factors play into the role of setting realistic or achievable goals.”

 

Britney Gordon

“Where do you think most people fall short when it comes to trying to set their goals?”

 

Lucien Fitzgerald

“They fall short in being realistic with themselves and really pushing out that, I would say delusion out of their head that they have to achieve something of grandeur for it to be laudable or celebratory.”