Every successful leader or entrepreneur has their own approach to setting and achieving goals. What everyone has in common, is a clear vision of exactly what they want and an effective strategy on how they are going to achieve it.

Your subconscious mind is a powerful tool that works tirelessly to help you achieve your goals, even without you being consciously aware of it. However, you must be crystal clear on what you want to achieve so that every cell in your body can help you achieve it. For example, you could define your life ambition as “I want to have more money”. Now, say you find a £1 coin on the floor, will you have achieved your ultimate goal?

Articulating your dream isn’t enough to lead you to success. A clear set of goals, with an effective strategy to achieving them, will.

Paul J. Meyer, the author of “Attitude is Everything”, was a true advocate of this approach and suggested a S-M-A-R-T way to setting goals that helps you achieve them.

• S- Specific (What is it you want to achieve?)
• M- Measurable (How much do you want?)
• A- Action oriented (What can you do to achieve this?)
• R- Realistic (Can this be achieved within your resources and means? If not then go back to step 3)
• T- Tangible (What is the tangible benefit or result of achieving this goal?)

Here are my top tips to help you set S-M-A-R-T goals:

1. Be honest with yourself and make a distinction between your goal and your dream. A dream is something you can aspire to reach, whereas a goal requires ownership, hard work, self-discipline and sacrifice to achieve it.
2. Every year I set myself goals against six areas in my life; family, spiritual, finance, career, social, physical and wellbeing. Identify goals in each of these areas to work out a clearer life plan and avoid mind clutter.
3. Avoid setting goals that you are not really passionate about. This is your life plan, so who are you paying lip service to?
4. A real goal will be a real challenge, otherwise it’s just a boring task. If you think you don’t have the willpower to achieve your challenge, ask for support from an accountability buddy.
5. Be mindful of the lessons you will have learned through your journey to achieving your goal.

You now have two options – You can wait, or you can create!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

If you have ideas around personal development, company culture or leadership then please share them in the comments section below. Thanks!