How to Set SMART Goals

Just as I spoke about in the recent post, How to Do a Brain Dump, you need to stay focused and on track in order to accomplish your creative goal. It is important to have a reference to measure our process against. SMART Goals are exactly that. It should be used as a continuous check in for you. In this post, How to Set SMART GOALS, the process requires you to ask important questions that keep you on a very specific goal path.

What is a SMART Goal? It is a well-known acronym for five key components of goal setting.

S stand for Specific, M stands for Measurable, A stands for Attainable, R stands for Realistic and T stands for timely.

SPECIFIC

Now that you have had a chance to get your creative juices flowing with your brain dump, it is time to narrow your focus. Make your goal as focused and narrow as possible. Try your best to not cloud this dream goal with more than one focused outcome.

MEASURABLE

When it comes to a goal that is measurable, think of it as written down. If you are able to write down the specifics of the goal; specific measurement (time, amount written, amount painted, amount completed) then it would be classified as measurable.

A poorly measured goal in a creative outlet might look like the following. “I want to paint more”. Paint what, with what medium? When would you paint? Also, how much “more” specifically? No amount is specified here. When we use language like this, we are opening ourselves up to different interpretations and therefore different expectations of ourselves and others.

So, an example of a measurable goal would be, “I will produce one piece of finished art each week.” This will be made measurable by the specific action written out and acted upon. “I will paint three times a week at 8pm for an hour using watercolor” There are three quantifiers in this description; what (watercolor paint), when (8pm), how long (I hour).

ATTAINABLE

Is the goal something that is aligned with your skills or the skills you are willing and able to acquire? Or, is your goal too far off? Is it within your control? Will it take more time than your available effort?

REALISTIC

Much like “attainable”, is your goal relevant and realistic to who you are and who you envision yourself to be? Is this a dream that can become a reality? Can you see yourself with this goal fulfilled in the future? Have supportive others spoken an element of this truth into you to help you verify your ability?

TIMELY

When you set a time limit, you have more motivation to hit your target date. The date can always be changed but initially setting it propels us forward.

Always ask yourself, how long would this goal take to accomplish? If you your goal as a whole, you may not be able to answer this yet.

IF you are thinking of smaller amounts of time, as yourself, Is it something that I can do each day or is it something over a week? The shorter amount of time it takes to accomplish a task (and then put it on repeat), the more likely you are to do it. Start with daily tasks and even hourly tasks. When you go from doing nothing to choosing an amount of time, 10 minutes is a small success.

What I want you to do now is take your creative goal and run it through each of these test sections.

As a creative, do you struggle with confidence?

Even though I share a lot of freebies and tutorials, I held back for years sharing my creations because I feared failure. As creatives, you and I can be held back due to negative thinking. It might look like comparing your ability to others or not having the confidence to pursue your creative talent or putting your creations out into the world.

Is that you? Have you ever found it difficult to cope with imposter syndrome, your inner critic, fear of failure, perfectionistic tendencies, and being hesitant to share your work?

If your answer is yes, I have a Free resource for you. It’s just a click away!