Hi, everybody, Cheryl Knowlton coming at you with this week’s book report. This week’s book of the week is this wonderful little book called Make It Happen: The Eleven Practices of Peak Performers by my friend and colleague Michelle McCullough.
Specifically, I want to talk to you about the SMARTY goals, because I love this so much. In 1981, a gentleman by the name of George Dorin came up with the SMART goal concept, which you probably heard of. But just as a review, in case you don’t remember what the acronym SMART stands for, let’s talk about them briefly.
S is for Specific.
Your goal needs to be specific. I can’t just say, “This year I want to lose weight.” We have to be very specific. “This year I want to lose 15 pounds. Your goal needs to just a very, very, specific, because you can’t wrap your head around a nebulous goal. So, number one, S is for Specific.
M is for Measurable.
Everything is so much more powerful in our lives when we assign a deadline to it. A goal is a dream with a deadline. So, you’ve got to assign a deadline. “I will have lost 15 pounds by my birthday.” Make sure it’s measurable so that you can hold yourself accountable to that date. Yes, it becomes scary at that point, but that’s what gives it the power.
A is for Attainable.
It needs to be something you can actually achieve. I can’t say, “Gosh, I think this year I want to become the CEO of Apple.” I don’t work for Apple. I’ve never worked for Apple. On top of that, I don’t necessarily have the skill set that the board of directors would be looking for, for a publically traded tech company.
The fact that I own one does not make that an attainable goal for me. So, make sure that your goal is something that you realistically can achieve. Yes, you want it to stretch you. It does also need to be possible.
R is for Realistic and T is for Timely
Going right along with that, R is for Realistic. It needs to be attainable and it needs to be realistic. Which last of all leads us to T is for Timely. It needs to be something I can’t say, “I want to lose 15 pounds by five years from yesterday. That’s too far away. It doesn’t give me the excitement, the incentive to make it happen. It needs to be a long enough period of time that it’s realistic. If I said, “I want to lose 15 pounds by tomorrow,” I would need to sever a limb to make that happen. This is not a recommended long term activity.
So, it’s got to be timely—not too long, not too short. It’s the Goldie Locks principle. It needs to be just right.
Last of all, I love what Michelle does, taking George Dorin’s concept of a SMART goal—she adds the letter Y to make it a SMARTY goal. What in the world is a SMARTY goal?
Start with Why
It is adding your “Why.” It’s so essential that I talked about it in my book Burning the Hamster Wheel. You have to, as Simon Sinek talks about in his book and his amazing Ted talk of the same name Start with Why. We need to know why it is you are doing all this. There will never come a time in your life where you are going to want to eat carrots instead of chocolate cake. That isn’t going to happen.
That is the biggest problem. We think that something is going to magically happen. Tinkerbell is going to sprinkle us with pixie dust and we will suddenly want to change our habits and do everything right. You are never, ever going to want to do the right thing, especially in the moments of decision, when it’s hard. You have to tap in to your “why”. Why do I want to lose 15 pounds? Well, because it’s going to be less hard on your joints. I’m going to look amazing in my clothes. All those boxes of clothes in my closet—I’ll be able to pull them out and actually wear them. I’m going to look great. I’m going to feel great. It’s going to be easier for me to run. When I tap into the “why” behind the goal, it gives it power.
I love Michelle so much as a person and as an author, speaker and coach. She is phenomenal. I love that she introduced me to the concept of SMARTY goals.
Check out his book. Make it Happen by Michelle McCullough. You’ll love it!