Posted by A few weeks ago I wrote about how to think about the passing of time when thinking about your own business. I divided this time into 3 stages: writing a business plan, preparing to open a business and operating a business. In stages 2 and 3, we need clear, understandable and achievable goals that will help us move one step at a time from idea to expected profits. Today and in the next post, I will explain to you how I always set goals for myself and how to use this to set the goal of preparing to open a business.
A fairly well-known principle in goal setting is the SMART principle. Some call it the SMART technique or method. Indeed, it is more of a technique, because a principle is a brief justification of some phenomenon or a rule of conduct. SMART, on the other hand, has many nuances and versions, so we can call it a goal-setting technique.
The word SMART is an acronym from the first letters of 5 English words: specific, measurable, achievable, related and timed. In Polish, it can be translated as: clearly defined, measurable, achievable, related to something and timed. However, it should be made clear here (!) that the first characteristic refers to the whole way of setting the goal, and the other four characteristics are the features of the goal. So it’s all about form (clearly defined) and content (the other 4 words). Few people realize this distinction, but it is important. The goal can be set in points according to these 4 remaining words, but this description must meet the criterion of the first word – to be clear and understandable to us and to possible collaborators.
Let’s now focus on explaining each of the four characteristics of a properly set goal, and in the next post we will set ourselves sample goals during the preparation period.
First, the goal must be measurable. We associate measurability with numbers. On top of that, we carry from our studies, and perhaps even from high school, the misconception that if something is measurable, it must be expressed in numbers, and an unmeasurable characteristic is expressed in words (so-called quantitative and qualitative research). This is not the place to explain this erroneous division in detail (if it interests you – write to me), what is important is that you do not think in this scheme. Whether numbers or words, you need to figure out for yourself what specific (!) effect you want to achieve after the preparation stage. For example, you want your pre-opening store to look modern (a qualitative feature, but measurable – you’re just able to assess this subjectively) and to have 10 products of each type on offer (a quantitative feature).
Why does a goal need to be measurable? So that you know you have achieved what you really want. If you don’t, you will wade into chaos and unpreparedness. You’ll forget a lot of important things, fail to arrange details with co-workers, etc.
Second, the goal must be achievable. What does that mean? Exactly enough to make this goal, or metrics, achievable. That’s why you always set the metrics first, and then assess the reality of achieving them. There is one trick here that I like to use when setting goals myself. The trick is to ask myself the following question, “What has to happen that doesn’t depend on me for me to achieve the metrics I set earlier?”. Notice – what does not depend on me. Why is that? When you think about it, most ventures in life “fail” because of factors that do not depend on you. You get sick – you won’t fly on vacation. Someone drives into your car – you can’t get to work. It’s raining – you won’t play ball today. These factors are sometimes somewhat up to you – you can do your best to write a good project, a convincing request, not get sick through your own recklessness, etc. But there are also those, like rain, that do not fully depend on you. Think about how to protect yourself from them. If they occur, no matter how you try, you probably won’t be able to achieve your goal.
Third, the goal should be related to something, that is, have some other overarching goal. If you want to earn 10k a month, what’s the point? So that you… (here are your overarching goals). If you want to get married, why? So that you… And so on.
If you can’t define an overarching goal, then it’s either your life values, life mission, deep beliefs, or… there’s no point in setting such a goal at all!
Fourth, the goal must be time-bound. And here comes a simple dilemma: deadline or time frame. For example: I will learn German to B2 level by March 2027 or in 4 years? It’s hard to say which option is better. I usually choose a period first, and then match it to the calendar and see when I am able to achieve a given goal. If you want to learn more, write to me, because this is a vast topic….
In my next post I will describe examples of preparation goals for opening a business.