Have you ever found yourself setting one goal after the other, only to experience disappointment when you couldn’t achieve them? As discussed in my previous post, the first step in achieving our goals is setting the right ones in the right way.

If we set the wrong ones, they’ll be much harder, perhaps impossible, to achieve—either because they don’t fit our designed skills, gifts, and personality, or they’re not motivating enough for us to go after with passion and persistence.

Then, even if we achieve them, it won’t bring lasting or satisfactory results. It will feel like we “reached the top rung of the ladder only to find out it was up against the wrong wall.”

With that in mind, let’s review how to set the right goals (see https://willyounotbeawareofit.wordpress.com/2022/09/26/setting-the-best-goals/ for the full post). These goals will not only be SMART, but SMARTEST:

• Specific— Not nebulous or too broad, but clearly defined and narrow enough to know what we’re after and what exact destination to head toward. That’s why we type addresses into our GPS.
• Measurable— Not without a point of recognizing whether or not we’ve achieved it. Otherwise, how will we know the exact distance or when we’ve arrived?
• Attainable—Not something there’s no way we can do outside of a miracle. Miracles can and do happen, but then it’s too far out of our control and “domain” to count as a goal. It also needs to involve action on our part (“actionable”)
• Relevant— It needs to matter to us and/or others, or we won’t have a reason or motivation to achieve it. Or, if we’ve put “actionable” for the “A”, we can put “realistic” here, with the same concept as “attainable”.
• Time-bound—We need to have a deadline. It’s been said that “A goal without a deadline is just a wish.” We need a due date to get it done, given our propensity to procrastinate. Otherwise, it will remain “out there”.
• E ternal in impact– Have significance far beyond this present world and last far beyond the length of our own lives.
• S pirit-led/Scriptural– Our goals will line up in values with Scriptural principles. They’ll have good purposes, seeking to help and not harm others, and not be selfish.
• T ranscendent/Transferable— Our goals will go beyond our own interests to have a greater, ripple-effect, impact on the world. It’s not just about us. Also, achieving them will apply in other areas besides the one we originally thought of.

Here’s an example of such a SMARTEST goal:

Let’s say someone wants to become a public speaker. What would be a S.M.A.R.T. goal? Probably not to be world-renowned for the sake of being famous. Too broad, too “out there”, and selfish motivation. But their short-term goal could be to receive 5 speaking invitations within the next year, with a long-term goal of presenting a TED talk within the next five years. To make that a S.M.A.R.T.E.S.T. goal would then be to say: Whatever they present will have far-reaching, eternal, impact on not only those who hear it, but on whoever those hearers influence and share it with. That influence would bring more hope and love, not only in one context, but many.

Another example: Someone desires to become an executive in a company. To make that a SMARTEST goal, they’d need to first make it an actual goal, not just a wish or hope. Using this acronym as a guide, they could set it as:

• Become the Chief Marketing Officer for a global consulting firm
• …promotion by promotion, and/or being hired for higher position in another company by certain, reasonable, times along the way
• …knowing that they have excellent interpersonal skills, an impressive resume and training in marketing, and are currently a Director in that kind of company
• …it’s right in line with what they enjoy doing and matters to them
• …this will happen by 10 years from now
• …they’re motivated by how they can use this as a platform to get into restricted-access, poorer countries to reach out and touch people’s hearts for eternity
• …this aligns with the Great Commission (Mat. 28:18-20)
• …they are ready and willing to earn a lot less in a poor country, helping small businesses succeed and provide employment for many who would otherwise be stuck in dead-end, low-paying jobs or not have work at all.

With our goals made SMARTEST, we’re now ready to achieve these right and godly goals by:

1. Enlist the Lord’s guidance and empowerment—If we’re setting His kind of goals, He’s willing and certainly able to help us achieve them. We’re getting help from the One who knows all, has the power to do all, the wisdom to do it best, and the love to create the best possible outcome.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; Submit to Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.” Prov. 3:5-6

2. Get support and accountability from others—Even with the Lord’s help, He has designed us all for community. No one has all the gifts, skills, and knowledge necessary to achieve goals that really count. If we did, we’d get too proud and independent! We’d also fail.

“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.” Eccles. 4:9

3. Establish “mile markers” along the way—Decide how far we need to get by which times, so we can see how we’re doing. Make sure to balance stretch with realistic.

4. Create action steps to reach the mile markers—We can’t walk a mile until we’ve taken at least one step. Then the next, the next, and so on. Some steps may be larger, some smaller, and some over rough terrain and inclines. Just make sure each step matches how we’re designed, what motivates us, and keeps us going farther in the right direction. It needs to be challenging enough to give us a rewarding sense of accomplishment. But not so “out there” that it feels more like a leap we know we can’t make so we don’t try. Then celebrate and reward each win to reinforce progress.

“Whatever you are capable of doing, do with all your might because there’s no work, thought, knowledge, or wisdom in the grave…” Eccles. 9:10

5. Evaluate/check in regularly—We can ask others or measure it ourselves. Either way, we need to stay accountable to someone and/or something to know if we’re making enough of the right kind of progress, by the right time, in the right way.

6. Course-correct where necessary—If we’ve gotten off track or behind, don’t give up or, worse yet, keep going the wrong way. It’s senseless to sit there or keep going when we’re on the wrong road going the wrong direction while driving. The same applies to journeying toward our goals. That’s why we check, get directions, and follow them.

“Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed.” Prov. 15:22 (MSG)

Don’t be discouraged or give up if you don’t meet your own expectations or achieve your goal(s) as quickly as you’d hoped. Keep adjusting and keep moving. You’ll get there in due time and be glad you did!