Goodbye SMART goals: Simplify your goal setting in 3 easy steps
Summary: Setting goals for many of us isn’t motivating. It’s cumbersome. It’s frustrating when goals continue to face roadblocks after several attempts. Say goodbye to traditional goal setting and learn to create powerful intentions. Speed up achieving powerful results in three easy steps.
Powerful Intentions for Powerful Results System
Simplify any goal and speed up achieving your goals.
Warren said to me, “I want to start the New Year feeling good.” For years, he admitted he would indulge during the holiday season. He attended parties, celebrated with drinks and all those holiday sweets. He would then spend the first months of the year undoing the damage.
He wondered what it would feel like to start the first day of a new year feeling healthy and strong. Our coaching session explored this idea further. Something this year was very different in him. He was ready to break the pattern.
Warren set a powerful intention for himself when he said, “I want to start the New Year feeling good.” His related goals were to lose 20 pounds and to do 20 pull-ups at the gym. But those goals by themselves weren’t motivating enough. The intention is what drove him to take action. He imagined making different choices that might cause a ripple effect for the whole year.
Why SMART goals don’t always work
In my former career, being a program manager included creating and implementing goals. I remember feeling obligated to use SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-based). And every time, I would look up examples on what exactly that means so I could do it right.
My overthinking brain would spend so much energy trying to write a goal statement. And right there, I would lose interest before the work had even begun. SMART goals don’t motivate me because they are too complicated.
Studies show motivation as a top reason why goals are not achieved. When the goal is not work related, and more personal, more than ever you need self-motivation to make a change.
What I’ve learned after thousands of coaching and goal sessions with clients is if you don’t love the goal statement, you’re less likely to achieve it.
If you don’t love the goal statement, you’re less likely to achieve it.
Using business tools like SMART goals might give you results. Use Powerful Intentions for personal and business-related goals. Last year, I hosted a goals masterclass and presented this system. An attendee chimed in to say her organization needs this! She was planning OKRs at the time and realized the “O” or "objective" isn’t motivating enough. It’s similar to a SMART goal that describes the thing the organization wants. She exclaimed, “It should be I-OKRs to get teams on board!”
Let's break down how this can work for you.
Learn 3 Steps for Powerful Intentions, Powerful Results
Step 1 Set an Intention
Intentions are the things you plan to do, your aim and purpose. How they differ from goals is intentions are internal to you. You can live and align to your intention every day. When you do, you speed up achieving your goals in the most authentic way. What’s your intention?
Step 2 Take Action
Today, begin doing the small things that align to your intention. Many people think that taking action requires big bold moves. Taking action includes thinking, reflecting, journaling, preparing and sharing. Action means making new choices (micro-choices) that are only noticeable to you. What small steps can you take?
Step 3 Move Forward
For conflict-adverse people, moving forward is the hardest part. Making a change means you will encounter setbacks. You will face conflict, even if it's within yourself. When you do, it’s easy to get discouraged and say, “this will never work for me.” What will help you to keep going, even when you have setbacks?
It’s that simple. There’s nothing to memorize or remember. Set an intention, take action, move forward is an affirmation to keep you going. You can’t forget your intention because it’s what you really want! What I love about this strategy is it’s organic and takes away all the learning curve of creating SMART goals.
Personal Transformation
Keeping his intention top of mind, every day Warren took action. He revisited holiday tradition and obligations. Here’s how he disrupted himself:
He limited holiday commitments (food, sweets, drink)
He remembered always feeling sluggish, spending January undoing the damage from holiday season
He kept going to the gym
He gained momentum feeling stronger
Let go of the idea of indulging so much during the holidays
He achieved 20 pull ups at the gym, besting other half his age. He lost 20 pounds. He kick-started the year feeling self-confident, resilient and empowered to reach even higher.
What powerful results can you achieve with powerful intentions?
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