As 2022 wraps up and a new year is around the corner, have you thought about your goals for 2023? Many resolutions don’t pan out as people hope or expect because they’re vague and without a path to achieve them.
The SMART approach can help ensure your goals are meaningful and attainable while enabling you to measure progress along the way, helping you stay engaged and motivated.
The SMART acronym represents the criteria a goal needs to meet:
Specific
Dreaming of achieving something but not taking action can negatively affect your self-esteem. By having a clear idea of your goal, you’ll be more determined to achieve it.
Measurable
By tracking your progress over time, you’ll feel good about yourself and work harder toward the objective.
Attainable
Balance between unrealistic and easy. You want to set a goal that will challenge you, but an easy goal might not give you the sense of accomplishment.
Relevant
Achieving a goal should bring you closer to your big-picture purpose. Make sure the goal is useful to you in the future, otherwise you’re more likely to lose focus and give up on it.
Time-based
Deadlines create a sense of urgency and time limits guide you through completing your goals and enable you to keep track of your progress.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and not know where to start in a constantly-fluctuating market. Here is a sample of a SMART goal for real estate agents:
“By March, I will organize two free webinars with people from the real estate industry. We will discuss the current problems and challenges in the market and explain what makes our job interesting. This will help develop contacts with people in my field and better answer questions from potential clients.”
The goal is specific: stating when, with whom and why. The result can be measured by keeping track of what changed after the webinars were aired. The goal is achievable and doesn’t take too much of your time while still being slightly new and out of your comfort zone. The goal is relevant because it helps you build relationships and better serve clients. The goal is time-based as it must be organized by March.
By implementing the SMART approach you’ll be able to improve your skills and enjoy the process of becoming a better agent, growing and having more success.
For the full, essential guide on creating SMART goals—including more examples—visit smartsheet.com.
Photo: iStock.com/kemalbas/Maksim Ankuda
