When you are ready to set your SMART goal, first formulate it in one or two sentences. Then check the resulting goal against all five criteria of the SMART method and make sure you've considered everything you need to. And our SMART Goal Template is here to help you make your planning process more effective today.
Step 1
Write down your initial goal. Don't worry if it's not quite SMART yet, you'll refine it later using this template.
Initial Goal Example: I want to write a sci-fi novel.
Step 2
Now let’s make this goal specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound using our template.
S (SPECIFIC) | The goal should be specific: if you specify that something is “more” or “earlier”, you need to specify by how much. |
M (MEASURABLE) | What measurement will be used for the result? If the result cannot be counted, then there must be a specific end goal. |
A (ACHIEVABLE) | Are the chosen methods relevant to the goal? |
R (RELEVANT) or (REALISTIC) | Is your goal really important to you? How realistic is it? |
T (TIME-BOUND) | What is the deadline for achieving the goal? |
SMART Goal Example: I'm going to write a 60,000-word sci-fi novel in six months and wrap it up on January 31. To do this, I will write 2,500 words a week.
Specific: I'm going to write a 60,000-word sci-fi novel.
Measurable: I will finish 60,000 words in six months.
Achievable: I will write 2,500 words a week.
Relevant: I always wanted to be a professional writer.
Time-bound: I'll finish the book on January 31st.
Step 3
Once SMART goals have been set, you are also advised to continually monitor your progress in order to achieve results. Monitoring your performance on a regular basis makes it easy to determine what went wrong and what adjustments can be made to make it work better next time.