Setting goals is something all successful professionals do. And as Christians, we have an example of goal setting the world doesn’t recognize. Jesus had a divine goal with us in mind:

Luke 13:32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’"

Targeted goal-setting is powerful and effective. It helps us keep clarity of outcome. Breaking big desires down into smaller, achievable goals makes success achievable. The biggest challenges are overcome as we make a series of small goals that, collectively, lead to big outcomes.

And yet, just setting a bunch of goals can often be discouraging when we don’t reach them. Ever wonder why we often fall short? It’s because the goals weren’t smart! I’m not talking about whether the goals are stupid or intelligent either. I’m talking about a simple way of thinking about an activity designed to help us achieve results. It’s called S.M.A.R.T., and it stands for the following:

We want our goals to hold to this new standard. That simply means we set a goal by asking how specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time oriented it is. If the goal doesn't meet these criteria, alter it. For every missing element in S.M.A.R.T. we increase the risk of the goal not getting accomplished.

Here’s an example of a goal that is not S.M.A.R.T. – “I’m going to work longer hours at least three times a week.”

Can you see why? It’s not really that specific. It doesn't say how many extra hours or on which days of the week. It also doesn't identify when this will start and how long it will occur. And since the term “work longer hours” is non-specific, there’s no way to tell whether it's even achievable.

To make this a S.M.A.R.T. goal it would look like this: “I’m going to work two extra evening hours Mon, Wed and Fri starting next week, for at least three months, to increase my output prior to quarter-end.”

This goal is now very specific, easily measurable, certainly achievable, relevant to a high-volume work period and time oriented. Using this goal setting system is essential for growth. It’s far too easy to set goals that are never achieved.

This can be applied to anything you want to achieve. Want to reach a new sales target? Want to negotiate a higher salary? Want to build a larger engineering department? Want to expand operations into a new region? Want to improve your own output?

Master this process, and it will completely transform the way you see tasks and outcomes. It will remove obstacles before they even arise. It proactively sets your mind on reaching the target. I If you ever want any advice about whether a goal is S.M.A.R.T., just send me an email ( shawn@motivationeer.com ) with the goal written out and I’ll provide feedback.

Shawn Sommerkamp is a motivational speaker and Executive Coach with 20+ years of Fortune 100 leadership experience. He founded Motivationeer™ to coach Christian professionals how to use their career to glorify God and support local church growth.