One Snarky Chica with Issues

As someone that is a bit of a dreamer I read a lot about goal setting. One of the things that I always see mentioned is the importance of setting SMART goals for your self.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

Specific is just that. For instance, instead of saying I want to lose weight you would say I want to workout three times a week and lose 25 pounds in a year.

Measurable means making your goal something that is quantifiable. In the example above it is easy to measure your progress as you have set the parameters of three times a week and 25 pounds and one year.

I think attainable and realistic are closely intertwined as for a goal to be attainable it needs to also be realistic.

And timely, in this instance, is already covered by the measurable parameter of one year.

While I agree that creating SMART goals is a good idea I also think that it can hinder you from reaching your true potential.

I think that if you are creating goals that you need a mix of SMART goals and stretch goals. By adding stretch goals in the mix you end up challenging your self more. Stretch goals also make sure that you do not get bored with the quest to reach goals that are too easy for you.

However I think all stretch goals is a bad idea. Why? Because stretch goals are not always realistic. And if you have all stretch goals and do not reach those goals you end up feeling defeated and maybe even worthless. That is why I think that you need to combine it with SMART goals so that you are able to maintain a positive outlook while you are reaching for those stretch goals.