Have you ever tried setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, only to find yourself frustrated because you didn’t achieve them?
ME TOO.
I set S.M.A.R.T. goals for years, but constantly found myself discouraged when I missed deadlines, or didn’t track and measure my goals “the right way”. I thought if I just followed all the steps, that would guarantee me success, right?
Not so much. Turns out, S.M.A.R.T. was an acronym that debuted in a business management journal in 1981 (before technology, which is not the main point of this article, but a very important point—we’re dealing with a lot more today than we were then.) The author, George Duran, was posing the the S.M.A.R.T. acronym, when applied to employee goal setting, would help managers motivate and monitor employee performance.
In other words, S.M.A.R.T. was never intended to be a personal goal setting system.
If you’re having a major light bulb moment right now, you’re not alone. Goal-setters all across the world are ready for a new goal-setting system, one that is actually designed for individuals, not managers and employees.
I mean, let’s be honest: have you ever seen anyone hold up their annual list of goals on December 31 and show you that they measured, tracked, and achieved all of them by a certain deadline?
S.M.A.R.T. goals aren’t so smart, when it comes to needing to set goals for our personal life, goals that lead to joy and balance and give us hope.
If you’re reading this, I bet you’re a dreamer, like me. I bet you have ideas about what you want to do and where you want to go. You might be feeling super ambitious about those right now, or you might be feeling a little bit timid—because, failed goals are a reality we’ve all experienced at some point in life.
No matter what you’re feeling, I want you to know that I believe to my very core that you and I are meant to achieve a beautiful life. A guilt-free life full of hope and rich in joy.
Here’s what I want you to believe, right now: your goals don’t fail because of YOU. Your goals, my goals, all of our goals—have failed time and time again for one simple reason: you’re not setting them correctly. The system is broken.
Most of us don’t need any help dreaming up new ideas, brainstorming things we’d like to try or places we’d like to go. It’s not that hard to imagine a life where you’re perfectly fit, have plenty of money, and great relationships. As we all know, dreaming that up and getting there are two TOTALLY different things.
Most people run into one, if not all three of these problems when using a traditional method of goal setting:
- You are more focused on probability than possibility.
- You’re letting the non-essential distract you from what really matters.
- Your goals end up so all over the place that they never get scheduled in your planner.
The H.E.A.R.T. Goals™ method addresses each of these problematic areas of goal setting by walking you through 10 exercises that build across three separate sections. The H.E.A.R.T. Goals ™method teaches you how to find and keep the right mindset, have a real conversation about your priorities, and helps you outline the practical steps you’ll need to take to achieve your goals.
The H.E.A.R.T. Goals™ method has features you won’t find in any other goal setting system, including:
- A process that has been iterated and improved upon since 2009.
- Information backed by the latest researching in psychology and goal-setting.
- H.E.A.R.T. Life Segments™ to help you identify and set balanced goals based on your needs, hopes and dreams.
- Our signature Goal Grid™, the best way to sort and organize your goals into actionable steps.
- Practical instructions for implementing your goals into daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly routines and habits.
- Access to tutorial videos walking you through each of the ten H.E.A.R.T. Goals™ exercises.
- A supportive community that offers shared accountability through a private Slack channel, exclusively for H.E.A.R.T. Goals™ owners.
Over the last week I’ve done a series of workshops on the H.E.A.R.T. Goals™ method.
In the first workshop, I talked about why our goals fail.
In the second workshop I covered the right mindset for setting goals and the H.E.A.R.T.™ acronym.
And in the third and final workshop, I gave you a behind the scenes look at my own personal 2019 goals.
You can watch the replay of the entire free mini course here: whitneyenglish.com/heartgoalsminicourse.
I recorded the free mini-course as a way to get you motivated and excited about setting goals for the next year. I want to encourage you and empower you through the H.E.A.R.T. Goals™ system because I truly believe–no, I KNOW–this system is life-changing.
I am so excited to talk about goals and to get this system into your hands. I can promise you that your best year ever is at the other end of H.E.A.R.T. Goals™, and I would love to invite you to join me in this journey in 2019! Click below to purchase the printable PDF download and get started right away!
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