A Life Coaching Approach To Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals - Part 2 - Measurable & Achievable
#2 - Measurable
Greg S. Reid explained that “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan back by action makes your dreams come true.” Don Lancaster concluded that “most “impossible” goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and then going full speed ahead as if they were routine.” It reminds me of the story of the person who set a goal to build a fort for each letter of the alphabet. they were only able to build the first six, but took solace in the fact that they made a F Fort. Selecting a method of measurement is crucial for long-term goals. Anyone who has taken a cross country drive knows the importance of having mile measurements along the way. If you are on a two-week trip, it is best if you know how far you need to be on each day. This is a way to measure if you need to drive further the next day to be sure that you’re on schedule. The last thing you want is to get to the destination only to find out that you need to leave an hour later because you took too long to get there. It is a fact of life that hinderances and delays happen. Ironically as I was writing this someone interrupted me to say something to me. There is also the picture of the person when missing his exit decided to drive faster on the highway to get there sooner. Of course, his actions only got him farther away until he turned around of took another route to get back on the correct roads. That is where working smarter, not harder comes in to play. Having measurable goals help that process. Another point is the simple fact is that there are going to be some days that you will not jump out of bed with the enthusiasm of a citizen of Whoville on Christmas morning to achieve your goals. Having solid measurements can help you get back on track. As I already mentioned, it’s better to adjust during the journey verses at the destination.
Life Coaching Questions - What is a method of measurement that has worked well for you in the past? Are you a number’s, a percentage, a visual, audio or kinetic person? - How can you use that to set up a measuring system? Some people see measurements as a reminder of their positive progress. Some people see measurements as a constant reminder that they are behind. Some see measurements as a way to determined if more or less effort is needed. How do you see measurement?
#3 - Achievable
This can be an interesting area to develop. Taking a cue from the Michelangelo quote “The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” And then contrasting it with the notion of the too high achiever who said “I have a goal to stop being over ambitious. - I hope to hit it by tomorrow.” The goals need to be challenging, rather than unattainable - they need to stretch without tearing and they need to be out of immediate reach and yet still be within your own personal scope of possibility. One of favorite examples of the difference of a life coaching approach is if someone says that their goal is of being a professional basketball point guard, a professional race car driver or a professional wrestler and they do not have the physical attributes or skill set. The normal reaction is “get your head out of the clouds,” but here’s my take on that. Regarding the goal of a 5’5” male wanting to be a professional basketball point guard. What is it that attracts you to being a point guard? Perhaps the answer is that they run the team, anticipates what the defense is doing and consequently determines what is the best play for that situation. They then set up and executes the play that puts the best person in the scenario in place to score. I might follow up with “ That sounds a lot like management. Are there management positions that would fulfill that skill set?” The same for the race car driver who loves the fact that it’s a small team, that work under high pressure where every second counts. On the track it’s only him competing with all the other drivers for 1st place. As a life coach I might compare the skill set to sales or entrepreneurship and ask if there are any opportunities that would translate into those skills. Perhaps the wannabe pro wrestler loves the idea of designing a character, coming up with names for moves and developing tag lines “Brother”! The life coach in me may compare that with marketing and public relations and lead the client into a discussion regarding marketing as a possible field of fulfillment. A life coaching approach doesn’t look just at the what, ie point guard, race car driver, wrestler, but also the why. Perhaps there are keys hidden in the whys that will help the client to set goals that will fulfill their desires without being body slammed by a 300 lbs alpha male. With a new view of the attraction of the goal that may motive them like the individual that declared that “I made it a goal to become a legal citizen of Finland. - And I am not going to quit until I am Finish!”
Life Coaching Questions - What would it take to achieve this goal? What are the resources that you would need to achieve this goal? Do you have them or have access to obtain them? What are the attributes that you find appealing?
Dean Page - Certified Life Coach