Goals and performance feedback (Connect, Perform) When writing goals, it is helpful to remember the acronym SMART. Different people associate different words with each of the letters in SMART, but for the purposes of this problem, SMART means that effective goals are as follows: • Specific. A good goal defines exactly what you expect to accomplish. When your goals are specific, the behaviors required to accomplish them are clear. Many people say that they want to recycle to save the environment, but a better goal would be "Place every used bottle or can in a recycling container within 5 minutes of finishing its contents."
• Measurable. You can measure the outcomes of a good goal. When you measure how much of a goal you have attained, you get feedback on your work. For example, compare the goal "I want to be skinny" with "I want to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month." How can you measure skinny? But by measuring the pounds you have lost so far, you know exactly how close you are to meeting your goal.
• Attainable. Good goals are hard to reach but not impossible. If a goal is too easy, you will not have to work hard to attain it, and your overall performance will not improve. If a goal is too hard, you will be discouraged from attempting to reach it. One way of making sure that goals are attainable is to break larger, difficult goals into smaller, more easily accomplished subgoals.
• Result-oriented. A good goal contains only one outcome or accomplishment. If you combine two or more outcomes in one goal, it will be difficult to decide where to focus your attention. For example, "I will increase produce sales by 3% and achieve a 5% market share" is a less effective goal than "I will increase produce sales by 3%."
• Time-bound. Good goals specify precisely when you will meet them. Doing so provides you with a deadline for your actions. For example, it is easy to say, "I want to be a millionaire," but you are more likely to accomplish that goal if you say, "I will have a million dollars in a bank account by January 1, 2020."
Using your knowledge of SMART goals, determine which of the following goals is best.
a) I will buy a new house soon so that my family will have a place to live.
b) I will start saving money next week toward a new house.
c) I will pay off my credit cards so that I can start saving money for a house.
d) I will save $40,000 in 3 years to use as a down payment on a house.