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Growth mindset
Course: Growth mindset > Unit 2
Lesson 5: Supercharge your goalsLearn: Supercharge your goals.
Why is a good goal a SMART goal?
We can write vague goals—“I want to be a good person”—that have broad implications but aren't specific, measurable, or actionable.
"I want to be a good person" isn't specific or actionable because we don’t know what needs to be done to become a good person. Should we treat others more respectfully? Be more helpful to others? Say fewer hurtful things?
"I want to be a good person" isn't measurable because we don’t know when the goal has been achieved. It’s hard to know and quantify when someone has become a good person.
Vague goals don't do much to motivate learning or promote growth. SMART goals, on the other hand, drive accountability to ourselves and also spur action.
Let's take a look at another nonSMART goal, written by a guy named Eric—“I want to run a marathon in a month.” This goal may be a great goal for some people, but not for Eric.
A bit of backstory on Eric: he hasn’t exercised in over two years, eats a lot of junk food, and plays video games from dawn to dusk. Eric's goal is not realistic and also not actionable because we don’t know what he is doing to achieve his goal.
Write your SMART goal.
What is something you care about doing well—in or outside of school?
Write a SMART goal to help you learn to do your chosen thing well.
Here are some things to consider when writing your SMART goal.
Specific: Is the goal linked to one activity or one thought?
Measurable: Can I plot my progress on a graph?
Can I say how much I’ve improved from the previous day or week?
Actionable: What task or action will I be doing?
Can I draw a picture of someone doing that action?
Realistic: Are there examples of people who have achieved this level of success in this amount of time?
Time-bound: Did I include a set time period in which I want to achieve my goal? Days? Weeks? Months?
You have completed part 2 of 3 for this activity: Learn!
Want to join the conversation?
- but what if that goal is something which we can't bound in time?(9 votes)
- Personally, I believe that if the goal you are working to achieve cannot be given a time in which it could be achieved, that could be a sign that your goal is a good one. If you takes a long time to meet your goal it means you work for a long time on it and you clearly care enough about it. Follow your dreams and meet your crazy goals!(6 votes)
- My smart goal is to get my High-school degree in May.After that I want to accomplish my second goal, which is getting my associates in Science.(10 votes)
- how can I measured my success??(3 votes)
- I think the measuring success is different depending on people. I think success is when I satisfy with myself(4 votes)
- My goal is to get into the audition I applied for in July.(4 votes)
- so a good goal is some thing you've done over time what about something that you want to start doing like working out?(4 votes)
- My goal is to graduate high school and start cosmetology school in July. Then when i graduate college i will start building my salon.(4 votes)
- get a least over a 3.0GPA(3 votes)
- My goal is to get a 75% or higher on the work(2 votes)
- good and if you do try to go higher if you can(1 vote)
- My goal is to be more kind.
I can do that by thinking before doing anything.(2 votes) - My S.M.A.R.T. goal is to graduate with my Associate's
degree.(2 votes)