Setting SMART Targets

What’s SMART?
Good targets need to be:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Timed

Why?
If you set targets for yourself that are not SMART, you can’t tell if you’ve succeeded or not.

An example
“I want more money.”
Have I succeeded if I find 1p in the street?
What if I find 50p?
How would I know?

Another example
“I want to lose weight.”
Have I succeeded if I lose 2 grams?
Have I succeeded if I lose a kilogram?
What if it takes me 5 years to do it?
Am I still successful?

What does SMART mean?
Let’s look at what each letter stands for....

S is for Specific
“Specific” means that you have to say what you want to do, very clearly.

Specific Targets..
“I want to lose weight” is NOT specific.
“I want to lose 4 kilos” is specific.

M is for Measurable
Measurable targets tell you exactly what you need to do to succeed.
“I want to be able to run 800 metres faster” is not measurable. How much faster do I want to be able to go?

A Measurable Target
“I want to run 800 metres in 2.5 minutes” is measurable.
If I run 800 metres in 4 minutes, I know I haven’t succeeded yet!

A is for Achievable.
“I’m going to earn £3,000 by next week” is probably NOT achievable – unless your job is robbing banks!
Neither is:
“I am going to run 800 metres in 2 seconds.”

An Achievable Target
An achievable target has to be something you can do.
“I am going to read for 10 minutes every day this week” is probably achievable for most people.

R is for Relevant
What I’m going to do needs to help me to get what I want.
If I want to get fit, finding out about famous footballers won’t help.

A Relevant Target
It would be more useful to do some football practice every day!

T is for Timed
If I don’t know how much time I have, I don’t know when to take action.
How hard do I have to train?
When does my work have to be completed?

A Timed Target
“I want to be able to run 800 metres in 2.5 minutes by August 5th, this year” is a timed target.
Now I can arrange a training routine.

So remember...
Targets must be:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant and
Timed

Good Luck with your Targets!
When you use SMART targets, you set yourself up for success!

Some examples making targets SMART:
Get a better grade in English
Join in more in class
Improve my spelling
Achieve a Level 4 in English by Christmas
Put my hand up at least five times in every ICT lesson by Christmas
Practice/test key vocabulary in Science with my friends/family each weekend until Christmas