SMART Goals

28 Oct, 2024

I don't like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely) goals, and today in the shower I figured out why.

By their very nature, SMART goals are structured with accountability in mind. Sure, you can "meet" a SMART goal, but everything in a SMART goal can be nicely counted up, sorted, archived, and written down. Just like how you can count the number of students in a classroom, or amount of students that scored above a 60% on the last test, or number of pine trees on a specific block, SMART goals were really designed less for the individual themselves and more for other people. What does "I got 82% of the way there" really mean? It means different things to different people in different scenarios, and overall, if I'm doing something for myself, there's no need for me to know how far I got.
In other words, SMART goals were made for the institution not the individual.

Now sure, SMART goals may help one who struggles with meeting specific goals and targets -- for example, getting an 85+ on a test. It, however, does not apply to those other goals that we usually find in daily life -- things like "get through the day" or "impress [friend]" or "have fun." In the more abstract, SMART goals break down.

When I make goals, I make them with myself, for myself, taking into account myself. I also am honest with myself¹. In other words, my goals really have no relevance to others. In that sense, the SMART goal isn't needed -- I'm honest with myself, and at the end of the day, staring into the metaphorical dusk, I simply evaluate my progress as-is, and don't need (or want) to quantify to the exact decimal how well I optimized my time or performed.

Having said that, I still would recommend SMART goals to others, but only in this circumstance: If you find yourself lost in the whirlpool of life, struggling to simply recognize where you are, a SMART goal may help you reset your bearings; set a simple one, and upon completion, celebrate that completion and slowly but surely life will come back. Same goes for those that are lost in the sense that they set their goals too high or have too many and struggle to satisfy themselves. Just take it one step at a time, and always recognize (and perhaps celebrate) the progress made.