At any stage in your career it is important to set yourself goals. These goals should be SMART – Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely. To help you get started in setting your goals, we broke each word down.

Specific

Define your goals. Make sure they are clear and precise. A great tip is to consider who, what, where, why and how you will achieve your goals. Who is going to help you achieve the goal? What are you going to accomplish? Where will it be accomplished? Why are you setting this goal? How are you going to achieve it?

Measurable

When setting objectives and defining goals it is important to determine how you will measure your goals. You should ask yourself, can I measure the outcome? If the answer is yes, you are on the right track – define how you will do this! If the answer is no, you might want to go back to the first step and refine your goal as it might be too broad; try breaking down the pieces, you could break out what you thought was one goal into multiple objectives.

Achievable

Will you be able to accomplish your goal? Your target should be reasonable and not out of reach. To help determine this, define how you will accomplish the goal – if you are unable to, it might not be the right goal to set.

Relevant

Goals you set should be relevant. They should be worthwhile, relevant and meet your needs. Is your goal consistent with your career plans or other goals you have set? If there is no relevance to your goal, is it really worth your time? Make sure your goal is worth the time you will take to complete it and that it fits with you short and long term plans.

Timely

Put a time limit on your goals. It can be long term but place a time for different steps you will take in order to accomplish the goal. Give yourself exact dates to complete steps (day/month/year), not just approximations (a few weeks, a month) – this will help prompt you to complete your goal on time and help you with your time management.