Let me throw a statistic at you: Research shows that those who write down their goals are 80% more likely to achieve them than those who don’t. 80%. Let that sink in.

Writing things down can be POWERFUL.

Take the famous actor Jim Carrey, for instance. Carrey told Oprah in an interview that he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 million dollars for “Acting Services Rendered”.  He placed the check in his wallet for 7 years until he received a $10,000,000 million dollar payment for his work in Dumb and Dumber.

Now that is the power of writing down your hopes and dreams!

I have always found it fascinating the impact of writing down goals has on one’s ability to achieve them. I have two really great strategies to share with you to help you set *and achieve* your goals.

How to Set SMART Goals + Free Worksheet

The SMART goal-setting strategy is a pretty common strategy because it’s SUPER effective. If you set SMART goals, make sure that they follow all the criteria in SMART and you will be well on your way to achieving your dreams!

So, what does SMART stand for anyways? Yeah, it’s an acronym :

S – Specific. Our goals must be specific or we won’t have anything to shoot for. If you tell yourself, “I want to be healthy,” well, that just sounds too overwhelming. Do you need to work out? Diet? Take vitamins? And what are you going to do to get there? Things can get discouraging–fast.

A more specific goal would be, “I want to eat 3 servings of vegetables every day“. This is specific and results in a healthier YOU!

M – Measurable. Make sure your goal has a target to hit. Some sort of specific numerical value whether that be what percentage you want to increase your average test scores by or how many pounds of weight you want to lose.

Going back to our example, our goal of having 3 servings of veggies a day checks out because “3 servings” is measurable and realistic!

A – Action-Oriented. Your goals need to require that you do something. Your goals should be a step out of your comfort zone so that you are taking action in different ways than you previously have been. Whether that means the past weeks, months, years, etc.

R – Realistic. Although you shouldn’t make your goals too easy, you want them to be realistic. Don’t set a goal to lose 50 pounds in one month. Nobody could do that (unless maybe you cut off a limb). You have to make sure that you can obtain your goal or at least come pretty close to it! Remember to give yourself a little challenge!

T – Timely. Your goals should have some sort of time frame and a set deadline. This prevents you from procrastinating, so you can hold yourself accountable. Write your goals down in your planner in the monthly and weekly sections.

Remember to revisit your goals as frequently as possible to see how much progress you have made. I suggest you keep your goal where you can see it every single day (Like that $10,000,000 check). Reminding yourself of your goals daily will help you that much more in achieving them.

*Bonus* S – Self-determined. This is a continuation of the first “S” in S.M.A.R.T. You need to find your inner drive when you set a goal. Don’t simply set a goal because you think it’s what society wants you to do, set a goal because YOU want to do it! Having that intrinsic motivation is what is going to get you places, kid.

So remember, when you set SMART goals, make sure that it checks out with all of the letters in SMART. If it does, you have a pretty great goal on your hands!

Grab your FREE SMART Goals Digital Download by clicking here or the image below.

Ending Thoughts on Setting SMART Goals

Goals are in essence so simple, yet so many of us fail at achieving them. I believe we fail to really take the time to make a GOOD goal for ourselves.

Take the time to sit down and apply these guidelines that I have taught you. Set a good, in-depth goal that is meaningful to you. Break it down into smaller parts. Devise a plan. Write it everywhere. Keep it in your thoughts.

Goals should be held near and dear to us. They should be something we crave and desire. We should be hungry to achieve them.

If you are not hungry to achieve your goal, is it really a good goal? Hold yourself accountable for your actions. Share your goal with those you trust and those close to you. Make sure they hold you accountable too. We all have our bad days, and sometimes we need someone to hold us accountable and give us that little extra push.

If you follow these guidelines I believe you will have a great foundation to work toward achieving your BIG goals. Just remember one thing, these goals don’t work unless YOU do. You can have the most perfect goal in the world, but unless you put in work, even the simplest goal can not be achieved.

I hope you found this useful and here’s to going out and conquering those goals!

P.S. Don’t forget to download your FREE SMART Goals Digital Downloads