Goal Setting for Kids & Smart Adults
• Want to learn how to set goals much easier than SMART goals?
•
Well, you've come to the right place! This is so simple I call it:
• Goal
Setting for Kids - and SMART Adults
• It's fast, easy and best of all it
works perfectly
Beyond SMART Goal Setting
Perhaps you have heard about setting SMART goals?
In case you haven't heard about it, SMART is an acronym which reminds you to make your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based. Some people even add and E (for Evaluate) and an R (for Re-evaluate) at the end making the acronym SMARTER (read more at SMART goals if you want).
Many people talk about SMART goal setting, and it IS a good idea, but ...
When was the last time you set a goal like that?
Be honest, now. When was the last time you went through all the 5 or 7 steps in setting SMART goals?
Sorry, could you speak up, please? I couldn't hear that answer.
You didn't really use that method, huh? Even if you knew about it before reading this.
Well, don't worry. As far as I can tell, very few people actually use it. (And even if the idea is great, you don't actually need to). Read on for some pretty radical re-thinking of how to set goals.
The Easy Way
- Goal Setting for Kids and Smart Adults
So, even
though lots of people are aware of the idea behind SMART goals, they just don't
use that method in their goal setting.Why? My guess is: Because it's too complicated.
Well, great! :-) I'm here to tell you that goal setting can be much simpler than that.
So, how to set goals - easily?
The secret to achieving your goals is a simple three step process:
1. Set a course or direction
2. Take one step in that direction
3. Check your gut feeling and do either point 1 or 2 again
That's goal theory at its most simple. It doesn't even need an acronym. (Though if you want one, I might supply this one: DOF which stands for Direction + One step + Feeling's check).
While simple, this is also remarkably effective goal setting. It has several features which makes it even more powerful than SMART goals.
For one, it is much easier to remember - and do - than SMART goals; you could even call it 'goal setting for kids' or something like that to indicate how simple it is.
Another clear advantage this simple system for goal setting has over SMART goals is this: it ensures that you actually get somewhere!
If this has you turned on, you can check out the self improvement article How to Set Goals - Goal Setting for Kids and Smart Adults.
Step no. 1: Set a Course or Direction
What I mean is simply that you find desirable direction you'd like to move in.
We all have things we want. I do, and surely you do, too.
More money? A slimmer waistline? No more smoking? Finding a new love? Great. Those - or anything similar - will work just fine as a direction for you to move in.
Yes, yes, I know. You OUGHT to check if that goal is something Specific which you can Measure. And whether your goal is Realistic within some kind of Time frame. That's how setting SMART goals works.
But while that's a mighty fine idea, you don't really need to do it. Having a general direction is enough.
Loads of people who are well versed in goal setting theory and how to set goals, many of them perhaps even masters of different goal setting strategies, are going to disagree with me here. And that's fine.
I am writing this for YOU, not them. And what you need is something that works. Every time, without you having to remember what 'SMART goals' stand for and having to do all sorts of heavy duty checking along the way.
Step no. 2: Take One Step in that Direction
The second step I recommend you take is just that; a step. One step, is all.Big step, small step, it doesn't matter.
Also, surprisingly, it doesn't matter if the step you take is right or not.
All that matters is that you actually take the step. (In the direction you think you need to go, of course).
Want (or need) more money? Fine. You can think of one step to take that will give you money.
Collect bottles; sing a song for someone for a dollar; mow people's lawns or take people's dogs for a walk for a few dollars; sell your stuff; get a job; get a second job; sing a song for the boss and take his dog for a walk to get a raise; just demand a raise; get a better paid job; become self employed or whatever.
Take one (1) - step in that direction, that's all I ask.
Want a slimmer waistline? You can think of one step to take that will give you a slimmer waistline. Check your beliefs about yourself (low self esteem?) and change them (or let them go); eat fewer burgers, less candy and more fresh vegetables; eat less altogether; exercise more, etc. etc.
Just take one (1) step in that direction.
Want to stop smoking? Take one step. Big or small.
Out to find a new love, someone to share your life and your bed with? Wonderful. Take one step.
So, what are you waiting for? Just go and take it.
Step no. 3: Check Your Gut Feeling
Riiiiight. Now for the third and final step of how to set goals in an easier way than using SMART goals, and that's a check up.It is necessary that you have actually taken that one step in what you presume is the right direction. You have to have taken that, or this will not work.
Step no. 3 in easier-than-SMART-goal setting is simply checking how you feel in your gut. Or, if you prefer, in your heart. Or, simply in your body as a whole. Some folks prefer calling this using their intuition.
It doesn't matter what you call it, the thing is that you DO know what I am talking about because you use it every day, many times a day. You do something (or: do not do something) and then you ask yourself how you feel about that. The process takes place so fast as to be almost instantaneous.
Even when you go to the toilet! Yes, even then. Just ask yourself how you feel when you have just taken a leek or whatever you prefer to call it. Unless you are somehow ill, the answer is it feels like a relief, it feels good. And that is all you need to know.
You take a step and then you ask yourself: Do I feel good or do I feel bad?
Don't over-think it. Ask yourself how you feel and give yourself up to one second to find the answer. If you use more than one second, you are over-thinking it. Just go with the very first impression / feeling you get.
That's it. You are almost done. Here's the rest of this step in how to set goals easier than SMART goals:
If You Feel Bad If you feel bad, go to step no. 1, Set a Course of Direction, and adjust your heading.
Then, go to step no. 2, which is Take One Step in that Direction.
Then, of course, go to step no. 3, Check Your Gut Feeling, again. Rinse and repeat.
If You Feel Good If you feel good, you are moving in the right direction. So, go to step no. 2. Step no. 2 is Take One Step in that Direction ... meaning that you take another step.
Then go to step no. 3, Check Your Gut Feeling, again. Rinse and repeat.
There. That's it. Simple, huh?
This Goal Setting Method Gets You Moving
Three steps, and they even loop back so you don't have to learn more than those three. Plus, they are actually what you would do anyway, if you hadn't been seriously seduced by your culture and upbringing and education and whatnot to over-thinking everything.Also, this method has one significant advantage over the traditional SMART goals, and that is that you actually get moving with this method.
In fact, you have to be moving for it to work. The beauty is that you don't have to worry about planning or even about procrastination.
Both those things are BIG issues with many people, but using this simple and proven method they become non-issues, things of the past.
How to set goals easier than SMART goals:
The Conclusion: Pick Your Tool According to Your Need
Please note that I am not debunking the SMART goals method here. Not by a long shot.No, on the contrary I rather like setting SMART goals. I have even developed a method for checking your goals which is even more advanced than SMART goals.
My method (which I will describe on these pages very soon) is great for, say, big strategic business decisions ... but not-so-great when it comes to more everyday kinds of goals.
Everyday life. That's where my quick and easy goal setting method comes in.
This simple 3 step method even has an added bonus (which people interested in personal development and spirituality will appreciate) and which is so good that I have saved it for last:
It helps you live in the now.
And it's true what they say: There is no time like the present.
So, I urge you:
Now that you know a little something about how to set goals, do try this simple method out one day. You just might like it. And if you do, you've got a tool for life.
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