{"id":39379,"date":"2021-06-15T19:25:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T23:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=39379"},"modified":"2021-06-22T21:49:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T01:49:22","slug":"setting-effective-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/setting-effective-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting Effective Goals: Learn How to Set SMART Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-good-are-you\/\">How good are you<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-set-effective-goals\/\">setting effective goals<\/a>? Do you know how to set SMART goals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>Smarter Faster Better<\/em>, Charles Duhigg discusses how setting effective goals contributes to productivity. He outlines the elements and benefits of SMART goals. He also provides interesting examples from history to illustrate how setting effective goals can make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read on to learn about setting effective goals\u2014particularly how to set SMART goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Setting Effective Goals Is the Key to Productivity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How can setting effective goals help you stay focused and boost your productivity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having the right goals is crucial in maintaining productivity for a number of reasons. Firstly, to be productive, you need to know exactly what you\u2019re striving towards. Secondly, you need to be sure that you\u2019re aiming for the right results. Finally, whether or not you meet your goals is often used as a measure of how productive you are. That measure will be inaccurate if your goals were flawed from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SMART goals are smaller, more focused objectives. They are often the smaller steps you\u2019ll need to take to fulfill an ambitious goal (a stretch goal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SMART goals follow certain criteria. They must be:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Specific:<\/strong> You must outline a targeted objective, not a vague aspiration.<\/li><li><strong>Measurable:<\/strong> You must be able to measure the goal\u2019s success.<\/li><li><strong>Achievable and Realistic:<\/strong> You must actually have the time, resources, and capabilities to complete this goal; doing so has to be possible.<\/li><li><strong>Timely:<\/strong> You must have an expected timeline for accomplishing the goal.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These goals often have a much smaller scope than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ambitious-goals\/\">stretch goals<\/a>. For the stretch goal of writing a book, a SMART goal might be writing one chapter, or even one section of a chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you know how to set SMART goals, you&#8217;ll reap certain benefits. <strong>Because SMART goals are by design detailed and have been extensively thought through, the path to achieving them is often very clear.<\/strong> This can have a motivating effect. It\u2019s easier to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-inspire-yourself\/\">motivate yourself<\/a> to work towards a goal when you have a clear plan to follow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, by forcing you to set a timeline for the completion of your goal, SMART goals can encourage discipline. You can no longer procrastinate your task: you\u2019ve got a deadline to meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example: The Typist Experiment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1975, two psychologists conducted a study on how setting effective goals could boost productivity. For their experiment, they recruited 45 typists from a large corporation. These typists were already considered very productive; on average, their output was 95 typewritten lines per hour. Each typist was given the goal of increasing their output by a certain number of lines per hour.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The psychologists made sure that the typists\u2019 goals were SMART. They were intent on setting <em>effective<\/em> goals. Each typist received a specific output level to aim for that was realistic and achievable based on their capabilities and situation. They were given a timeline of when they should achieve this increased output, and they were shown how to measure their hourly output so that they could measure their progress towards the goal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within a week of starting the experiment, the typists\u2019 average output rate had increased to 103 lines per hour. After another week, the average rose again to 112 lines per hour. When the researchers checked on the typists in three months, they were all still typing at their new faster rate. In fact, some were typing even faster than before. Having a SMART goal had boosted the typists\u2019 productivity to unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example: The Yom Kippur War<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1972, Eli Zeira was appointed head of Israel\u2019s Directorate of Military Intelligence, a body with the responsibility of updating the Israeli people on the likelihood of war with their old adversaries, Egypt and Syria. When he was appointed, Zeira two had clear goals:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>He wanted to reduce the Israeli people\u2019s anxiety over the possibility of war.<\/li><li>He wanted to prevent the alarm from being raised unless there was a definite threat of war. In the past, the Directorate had raised the alarm needlessly, causing unnecessary anxiety.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Zeira introduced a new formula to assess the likelihood of war, known as \u201cthe concept.\u201d He theorized that Egypt and Syria wouldn\u2019t attack again until they had long-range missiles and stronger air forces. They had lacked these capabilities in the last war\u2014unlike Israel\u2014and had been defeated. He was sure they wouldn\u2019t risk the same fate again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zeira also enforced a new mindset in the Directorate which prioritized efficiency and decisiveness. Once a risk estimate was made, everyone was committed to it. Dissenting views weren\u2019t tolerated, and rigidity of thought was encouraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Zeira\u2019s Lack of Flexibility Puts Israelis in Danger<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In early October 1973, worrying signs suggested war was coming. Egypt and Syria were increasing military activity at their borders with Israel. Likewise, the Soviets had evacuated all of their advisers from Syria and Egypt, suggesting imminent danger.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite these signs, Zeira was adamant that war was not likely since neither Syria nor Egypt had met the criteria of \u201cthe concept.\u201d He felt that there was no need to raise the alert or begin to prepare for a war that would not come. The Israeli Prime Minister and her other senior military personnel heeded Zeira\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the morning of October 6th, the Israelis gained credible intelligence stating that the Egyptians would invade later that day. They could no longer deny that war was imminent and finally began to prepare. However, they had left it too late to be fully ready for the invasion. It was hard to mobilize the army and the reserves effectively in such a short time frame. The fact that it was Yom Kippur, a religious holiday, made the process even slower.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Egypt and Syria invaded, Israel was unprepared and struggled to respond effectively. While the Israelis eventually staved off the invasion, it was a close call. Thousands of Israelis lost their lives or were injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zeira and his colleagues had become overly focused on their original goals of reducing Israeli anxiety and only raising the alert when necessary. They hadn\u2019t been willing to re-examine and amend their goals, even when evidence suggested that they were no longer appropriate. They should have adopted a new goal: keeping the Israeli people safe. Their refusal to do so had devastating consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Productive people are skilled at setting effective goals. They know how to set SMART goals and see them through to achieve results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How good are you at setting effective goals? Do you know how to set SMART goals? In Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg discusses how setting effective goals contributes to productivity. He outlines the elements and benefits of SMART goals. He also provides interesting examples from history to illustrate how setting effective goals can make a difference. Read on to learn about setting effective goals\u2014particularly how to set SMART goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":39455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,43,30],"tags":[387],"class_list":["post-39379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-self-improvement","category-work","tag-smarter-faster-better","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Setting Effective Goals: Learn How to Set SMART Goals - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Setting effective goals contributes to productivity. 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