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Mastering the Art of Measurable Goals: A Guide to Success

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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Setting Achievable Goals

Setting Achievable Goals

Written by R. A. Stewart

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve”-Napoleon Hill

A goal needs to be achievable, otherwise it is just a fantasy. To set a goal such as “Win the lottery next Saturday” cannot be achieved through your own efforts. It is just a fantasy.

To set a goal of “To be as good as Tiger Woods at golf” when you have no ability whatsoever at playing golf is also unachievable. That is not to say that you are not capable of reaching a certain standard if you take up golf.

What is achievable is a goal which you are physically capable of achieving through your own efforts.

“To complete your first 5k fun run” is an achievable goal if you can run.

Saving for something is a common goal which people aim for. Saving a specified amount of money per week always leads to a much larger goal such as a house deposit, car, overseas holiday, or a retirement fund.

Success can be measured in several different ways. A cricketer can measure their success in their chosen sport in terms of the number of wickets taken or the number of runs they have scored.

What is achievable can be just a matter of an individual’s self image and how they value their abilities. Venturing outside of your comfort zone will enable you to realise your full potential. A negative attitude, low self-esteem, and unwilling to step outside of the well trodden beaten path will be barriers to achievement. 

Negative comments from others who are quick to put a dampener on your aspirations are also a hindrance to your efforts to better yourself. It is best to keep your goals to yourself and focus on what you are doing.

Some people who are keen to tell others of what they are doing are doing so in order to gain approval from others, and when they do not get it they feel deflated. 

There is no law to say that others must give you their tick of approval to everything you do.

Don’t look at your current circumstances and think I cannot do this, but rather look at your current circumstances and think “What needs to change in order that I get the outcome which I am seeking?” You may have heard the saying, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

About this article

This article is of the opinion of the writer and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances, therefore discretion is advised. You may use this article as content for your blog/website or ebook.

Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

 

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7 New Year’s Resolutions Destined to Fail (And How to Fix Them)

7 New Year’s Resolutions which are Destined to Fail

  1. Lose weight

A New Year’s resolution to lose weight is destined to fail because it is vague and not specific. It does not say how you plan to lose weight and how much weight you are going to lose. A better goal will be “I am going to give up going to fast food outlets” or “I am going to join the local running club.” If you are going to give something up then it may be an idea to have some alternative healthy options in mind. Focus on living an active and healthy lifestyle and the weight issue should take care of itself.

  1. Save Money

A New Year’s resolution to “save money” is just as vague as a goal to lose weight. There is no power to it. If you are just frittering away your discretionary spending money and have little or nothing to show from your labours then something has to change in order for your finances to change. You are better advised to decide on what you are saving for and take the steps needed to get there. Joining kiwisaver if you are not already enrolled has to be your number one priority. There are share market platforms such as Sharesies, Hatch, and Kernel Wealth which are set up to enable ordinary people to invest in the share market.

  1. Get Fit

A New Year’s resolution to “Get Fit,” is another one which is destined to fail because it is too vague and not specific enough. How you are going to get fit is not answered in a “Get Fit” resolution. If you have a “Get fit” resolution then what happens is that after a couple of days of running around the block or a few games of backyard cricket old habits will take over and your New Year’s resolution will become a distant memory.

  1. Learn to Swim

“Learn to swim” as a New Year’s resolution is not specific enough. It would be better to have a goal of, “To take lessons at the local pool once a week,” or to resolve to practice one new swimming skill every week. It is consistency which drives results. 

  1. Learn to Drive

Another example of a vague goal. It is better to have a New Year’s resolution of “I intend to sign up for driving lessons on New Year’s Day or whenever the Driving School is open for business after the holiday break.

  1. Get a Job

Deciding to “Get a Job” as your New Year’s resolution means that just taking any job which comes along will fulfil your goal. If that is what you want; that is fine but if you have something specific in mind then specify it otherwise you will end up with nothing. It is worth keeping in mind that many people will work at something they do not like until something more suitable comes along.

  1. Learn a new Language

This is another example of a goal which is not specific enough. There are dozens of languages you could learn so which one are you going to tackle? It will be better if you set a goal of “I will learn one new French/Chinese/Italian or whatever word per day. Such a goal is specific and tells you what you need to do in order to achieve your goal.

 

Your New Year’s resolution needs to be specific and have an action in it otherwise it will be just a wish. For example if your goal is to complete a 5k fun run then you should frame your goal such as “I will complete a 5k fun run by January 31st, 2026.” The next step will be to decide how far you will run every week.

Www.getfitwithbobby.wordpress.com

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Stop Wishing, Start Planning: The Power of SMART Goals

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 means.

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.

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

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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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