The New Year is filled with a lot of expectations that give a feeling of a fresh start. Setting a new year resolution is a norm with quite a number of people. Everyone seems to want to get it right or do it better this time.

2020 came with a lot to deal with for individuals and businesses alike. But Deep down we all know that saying ‘new year new me’ is not going to make magic and have all the challenges from the last year disappear in split seconds.

The only way to get ahead this year is by deciding to take action and become S.M.A.R.T.

Individuals or organizations often set themselves up for failure by setting broad and unrealistic goals such as “I want to save” or “I want more profits” These goals are vague and have no sense of direction.

S.M.A.R.T goals set you up for success by making goals specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. The SMART method helps push you further, gives you a sense of direction, and helps you organize and reach your goals.

Now let’s examine what it means for a goal to be S.M.A.R.T:

S- Specific

Assertiveness gives goals a significantly greater chance of being achieved. To make a goal-specific, you should ask questions like:

“What do I want to accomplish?”,

“When do I want to achieve this goal?”

“Where is this goal to be achieved?”

“Why do I want to achieve this goal?”

An example of a general goal would be “I want to save money”.

A specific goal would be “I want to open a Reaprite account to save more money in 2021 to become more financially independent”

M — Measurable

For a goal to be considered smart there must be a way to measure its progress. If there are no criteria, you will not be able to determine your progress and know if you are on track to reach your goal. Questions such as:

“How many/much?”

“What is my indicator of progress?”

Using the goal above, a specific and measurable goal would be ;

“I want to open a Reaprite account to save more money in 2021 to become more financially independent. Every week, I would save N3,000.

A — Attainable

Your goals should be attainable and achievable. This would make you feel challenged to meet your goals and figure out ways you can realize that goal and work towards it. So  you should ask questions like:

“What do I need to achieve the goal?”

R– Realistic

While setting up a goal, ensure you are not delusional. Be realistic as much as possible with your goals by considering the resources and time within your reach to achieve that goal. You want to be sure that all your goals can be accomplished.

T — Timely

An effective and smart goal should be time-bound in that it has a start and finish date. If the goal is not time-constrained, there will be no sense of urgency and this can make you lose focus and motivation. Always ask yourself when you want to achieve your goal.

A complete smart goal, building on the example above would be:

“I want to open a Reaprite account on the 1st of January to save more money and become more financially independent in 2021. Every week, I would save N3,000 and a total of N156,000 at the end of the year.