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What are Measurable Goals?

What are Measurable Goals?

Written by R. A. Stewart

Have you ever set a goal, poured your heart and soul into it and still failed to achieve your goal, leaving you unfulfilled and disappointed?

It could be that you have set a goal which is vague and lacks clarity. 

The solution is to set goals which are measurable.

What is a measurable goal?

Setting measurable goals allows you to create a clear road map that allows you to track your progress and allow you to celebrate each achievement.

Vague Goal Versus Measurable Goal

A vague goal is “Lose weight”

A measurable goal is, “To lose 5kgs in 30 days.”

This kind of goal tells you what kind of outcome you are seeking. 

A vague goal is, “Get fit”

A measurable goal, “Is to complete a 5k fun run by 1 February. 

Once you have clearly specified your goal and measured it, it is time to set sub goals.

A lose weight sub goal could be to eliminate all fizzy drinks from your diet.

A goal of, “To complete the Park Run at such and such city this Saturday” is a measurable goal. It tells you what you need to do and when.

If your fitness is such that you need to start training in order to make this goal a reality then you will have a much longer time frame of say, 4-6 weeks, but your more immediate goals will be to run x number of miles per week and increase your mileage as your fitness levels increase.

Run more and your capacity to run longer distances will increase. It is all about the mileage.

Less active people have the capacity to do less exercise. It is the old story of “Use it or lose it.”

Other examples of measurable goals are:

Increase my Youtube subscriber count from 1,000 to 1,500 by February 28.

Save $5,000 for my airfare to the UK by December 31

Invest $1,000 into my retirement fund by June 30

Run 1 mile without stopping for a rest within 6 weeks.

Apply for at least 5 jobs in the xxx industry every week

Increase website traffic by 20% by April 2025

Run a 5k road race in under 30 minutes by March

Read one book a month by the end of the year

Learn 100 new words in a foreign language by June

Write one new article per week

List 3 new products in my etsy/ebay/amazon store per week.

This is a general idea of how to frame your goals so that they are measurable. You are more likely to achieve whatever you are aiming for if you are specific and put a time frame on it.

About this article

You may use this article as content for your blog/website or ebook. 

Check out my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

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How to write Specific Goals

How to write Specific Goals

Written by R. A. Stewart

A specific goal is a goal which is specific in details. An example of a specific goal is “Lose 5 kilos by  1st February.”

You have achieved your goal or failed to achieve it.

A vague goal which is not specific is, “Lose weight,” because there is no way of knowing when you have achieved the goal.

Sure, you may lose weight, but there is more satisfaction in knowing that you have achieved a target.

Imagine two footballers who have set their own goal, one a goal to score more goals and the other to score xx number of goals by the time the season is over. Which footballer will be more motivated to go after his goal?

There are several parts of setting and achieving specific goals. They are:

  1. Set specific Goals

Setting specific goals is similar to catching a bus. In order to get to your desired destination you have to tell the driver where you are travelling to. If you just told the driver you want to go somewhere nice then the driver cannot sell you a ticket unless you are specific. 

  1. Set smaller bite-sized Goals

You may not be able to save the money you need for a holiday from just one payday but you can do it by saving a small amount per payday. Your Specific goal is to save x amount of money for your holiday. Your sub goal is to save x amount per week or fortnightly.

3-Describe the goal in detail

Give a description of what you want. If it is a new car you are saving for then specify what features you want in the vehicle. If any vehicle that is adequate for your requirements is what you want then that is fine, so long as it is what you want.

4-Use mental pictures of your desired outcome.

Imagine yourself achieving your goal. Gather pictures from magazines of the desired outcome. 

5-Have mentors

If you have sporting ambitions then follow the best players of your chosen sport. It is certain that those players who you look up to had players from the previous generation who they themselves looked up to.

About this article: You may use this article as content for your blog/website or ebook. 

www.robertastewart.com

 

 

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SMART GOALS lead to better outcomes

Setting SMART Goals

Written by R. A. Stewart

You may have heard of S.M.A.R.T goals. If not, here is what setting SMART goals really mean.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Timed

Here is an explanation of each part of S.M.A.R.T goals.

Specific

A goal needs to be specific otherwise it has no chance of succeeding. Examples of goals which are vague and not specific are:

Lose weight

Save money

Go on holiday

Get fit

The reason why they are vague goals is that there is no way of knowing when you have achieved your goal. If your goal is to lose weight then how much weight do you want to lose? If you want to save money then what are you saving money for and how much money do you want to save?

Measurable

A measurable goal is a goal that you specify what you want top achieve. If you want to get fit and you have never done any running previously then you might set a goal such as “I want to jog one mile without stopping for a rest.” This is measurable. You know whether you have achieved your goal or not.

Achievable

The goal must be achievable through your own efforts. A goal such as “To win the lottery” is not achievable through your own efforts because you cannot do anything to influence the outcome. A goal such as “To eliminate one bad food from my diet every week” is achievable through your own efforts because your choices will influence the outcome.

Relevant

A relevant goal is one which is relevant to your own personal circumstances and skill set. A relevant goal is not one that is imposed on you by well meaning friends and associates who say, “You should do this and you should do that.” Think for yourself and make your own choices. It is a good idea to keep your goals to yourself unless of course they affect your family. 

Timed

A timed goal has a deadline attached to it. For example you may have set a goal, “To jog a mile without stopping for a rest.” This goal is not timed, but if it is December 31 then you may set a goal, “To jog a mile without stopping for a rest by February 1.”

Your next task is deciding how you are going to achieve your goal. On day one you may decide that you will jog for 400 metres, walk 400 metres, jog 400 metres, and walk 400 metres. 

In the second week you could increase the distances you jog without stopping and reduce the walking distance.

By breaking down your goal into simple steps you can achieve your S.M.A.R.T goal.

All the best and a happy new year.

About this article

You may use this article as content for your blog, website, or ebook. 

Www.robertastewart.com

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Setting Goals is an Art

Setting goals do not have to involve money on its own. If you set goals based on money then your life is out of balance. It is important to decide what is important to you and is the vehicle to helping you to achieve those aims. In short, money should not be your number one aim.

If you accept a job with a higher pay then you had better weight up everything that the job involves such as the hours of work, the commute to the job, and responsibilities that come with the job and then decide whether it is worth all of the hassle.

It all depends on your personal circumstances and preferences. There is no size that fits everyone when it comes to goal setting. There is no such thing as “should” even though there are people who think others should do this or do that.

Personal goals are something which are personal to you. Here are some examples of personal goals:

Learning to swim

Learning a new language (specify)

Learning to drive

Learning to use the coffee machine

Learning to salsa dance

Reading the Bible from cover to cover

Meeting your favourite sports player

joining a sports club (specify)

The most important factor in determining your personal goals is your passions. The other factor is your talents. These two are often linked. Whatever most interests you is often where your talents lie but that does not mean that you cannot learn anything new. Most skills and talents are transferable.

We often see international sports people using the skills which enabled them to reach the elite level in their chosen sport to help them succeed in their chosen career after they have retired. Many have prepared themselves for life after sport by studying to gain a degree during their playing days.

It pays to have a number of strings to your bow as a backup.

You have to specify what your goal is otherwise it just becomes a wish and anyone can make a wish but it is taking action which will turn a dream into reality.

If you went to your travel agent and asked for a plane ticket they are unable to help you unless you were specific and told them your proposed destination.

Examples of vague goals which are non-specific are:

To lose weight

To get fit

To be happy

To save money

The problem with vague goals is that there is no way of knowing when you have achieved your goal. Goals need to be specific and timed. A goal of “To deposit at least a grand into my retirement fund by June 30th, 2023 is a specific and timed goal. You have either achieved your goal or not.

A get fit goal may be “To be able to run a 5k fun run by 31 December 2023.” This is another example of a specific goal which has been timed.

Giving your goals a timeline will give you more motivation. Just telling yourself that one day or someday I will do such and such is not a goal; it is a wish and there is a big difference between wishing for something and being serious about achieving it.

Life needs to be in balance and it is important to consider your personal talents and preferences. Many people have achieved extraordinary success in their chosen field and despite not setting out to make money have accumulated a great sum of money doing something they enjoyed.

The key here is to not make money your number one goal in life.

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