SMART goals are D.u.m.b

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you” -Uknown

Smart goals are dull, uninspired, mundane, boring, and safe. I see many people using and teaching this technique still and I think it imposes limitations on our dreams.

In goal setting, I see such a wide range of approaches, from setting ultra-specific goals to none at all. There are problems with both techniques.

The first problem is that life doesn’t happen in a straight line, even if you set ultra-specific goals. If we do hit specific goals, it’s never directly by following a to-do list. Yes, some actions help us, but hitting goals is more than checking off a to-do list. It’s more than deciding the goal and reverse engineering it which is also taught. There’s a purpose in that part, but I believe it’s a starting point. We cannot trust in our reverse engineering alone, there’s greater energy at work in going after goals and dreams.

An example of what I mean about greater energy (but not the only thing I mean) is that masculine energy is represented by a straight line, it is masculine energy that makes us want to create and complete a to-do list…but that energy alone is not everything we need. Feminine energy is represented by a circle, it’s the energy of receiving, rest, imagination, and creation. In my mind, when I think of masculine and feminine energies working together, they create angles…then I realized that most achievements in life are accomplished indirectly, through angles. This concept is represented so well through Native American dream catchers. The indigenous were so connected with nature and knew this truth well.

Masculine energy is like the work of our goals, but we realize that we cannot always just give, there’s also a time to receive, which is feminine. Our modern world is so dominated by masculine energy most of us have forgotten how to receive! So we are burnt out from giving, giving, giving. Work is great, but know that it is 2-sided, the other essential part of work is rest. Without the rest, we don’t heal, we can’t receive, and we burn out.

The first key ingredient to producing anything great is an extraordinary imagination, which is a challenge to cultivate in a world that shames rest. Imagination happens when we aren’t doing anything. When we are still, or resting or having fun and playing or doing a mundane chore. Imagination is part of the feminine side of creation. But a huge obstacle I see to us creating anything is that we have no time to imagine, most people my age probably think imagination is for kids…but it’s the whole foundation of creation. If you want to do great things, you have to make time and space to imagine great things.

I see so many people still teaching the technique of SMART goals when it comes to setting goals, but, I don’t buy that SMART goals are the way to success. This is why.

Specific: SMART goals say our goals need to be specific, but the moment we define something we are actually cutting off all other possibilities. Cutting off possibilities is the definition of making something impossible. Why do we always make things harder than they have to be? I’ve just realized that many dreams/goals/hopes do not have to be ultra-specific to be attained. And usually, specificity creates rigid expectations that set us up to be let down. Often we miss profound opportunities because of specificity. Being picky with your demands makes you high maintenance, it doesn’t guarantee your request. Specificity kills flexibility which is so key to our well being. Because at the end of the day, we don’t have all the control, we can really only control our thoughts and reactions to our world.

Measurable: I see 2 problems with measurable goals. I hear this often lately that you cannot improve something if it cannot be measured. This only holds true to quantitative objects. But what if we have a goal of happiness and peace? It can be measured in a sense, but it is so subjective to the person. Measurable only works with numbers. Which leads me to my other problem with this concept of measurable, measurable limits us greatly and often without us even realizing it! For example, measurable goals are usually just a measurable, small improvement on last years goals. Say you made $100,000 last year. So this year you make a measurable goal for you or your company that states 20% growth in income or sales, whichever. That’s planning based on the past, which leaves us playing smaller than we have to every time. And often recreating the past by doing the same things we did the year before, thinking that if we add 20% more effort somewhere we will hit that goal. But what if you don’t plan based on your past? What possibilities for growth and expansion does that allow you to create?

Achievable: this is actually my biggest concern with smart goals. Why did we buy into this belief that goals need to be something that appears achievable? Why make it a goal if it’s achievable? Where’s the fun in that? We like achievable because it’s comfortable.

How does having a goal that is able to be reached, stretch, grow, and change you in any way? How can it excite and motivate you? I think we like achievable goals because they make us feel more sure and safe. It can be such a let down to not hit goals we either don’t set them in most areas of our lives or set goals that are achievable, to avoid let down. Here’s the thing, if we don’t attach our value to hitting a goal, if we don’t give meaning to hitting or not hitting a goal, we won’t ever be let down by them. If you are looking for meaning in your goals, you will forever be let down or still unsatisfied even after you hit them. Goals give us a direction, they can never define our value. Because if you think it means something if you don’t hit them, what meaning do you give to the goal if you do reach it? If you give so much meaning to hitting or not hitting goals you will either be let down often or super arrogant once you do hit them. Giving a lot of meaning to your goals will get you super attached to them, which ironically does not help you achieve them, but gets you stuck in hustle and comparison mode. We’ve all failed at some point at hitting even those small, achievable goals, right? Because it’s not the size of the goal that makes it achievable, it’s the belief, will, and collective actions that make the goal possible. Achievable goals will have you settling for less, always. The purpose of our goals should be to inspire us to grow, be, and do better, not to play small, settle for mediocre, and comfort.

Relevant or Realistic: I see this used both ways in smart goals. To me, they are different from each other. I definitely don’t think our goals need to be realistic. Realistic gives the connotation that it’s something we can do, our goals should be something we cannot do, they should be something we have to grow to do. Another thing that’s great about unrealistic goals is that they are usually not something we can achieve on our own, we need others to complete them which keeps us humble. Relevant is a word I like, its Latin root means to raise up! That’s what our goals should do! The problem with relevant is most of our goals are not relevant to us and most are so blind to that! I know I was blind to this for years. To explain, I think our goals should be relevant to how we want to feel in life. If your goal doesn’t make you feel good or is not related to what your soul deeply desires then it is not relevant to your life! I set and achieved many goals because I thought it was what I should do or I was motivated by outside expectations of me, but I didn’t realize this at the time of course. I didn’t think life was about feeling good, but now I know that’s what life is all about, and that’s what goals are for to help us feel inspired, connected, nurtured, and that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. If your goal does not light your soul on fire it is not relevant.

Time-Bound: Ok I get why this is practical for businesses, but I don’t think it should apply to our own personal dreams. First, we just don’t have that much control, so this tends to set us up to be let down, which leaves many not setting goals for themselves! Stop putting your dreams on a linear timeline! Remember the world does not work that way, we made up linear time! It creates this unrealistic pressure on our dreams and often leads us to let down and burn out. As soon as we put a time limit on our dream, it puts us in hustle mode, to-do list mode, which is not the only things we need to accomplish anything. Time-bound makes us think we have all the control, and that it’s all up to us, which leads to neck pain and headaches! Don’t let your goals give you a headache, I see it all the time, though most are super unaware that they are causing their own headaches. (The perfectionist in me too still tries to accomplish stuff with hard-work, hustle, and to-do lists, but please listen when I say it is not the way! We must have balance in our goals) If you really want to create breakthroughs in short periods of time, spending time alone, in the quiet, in meditation is where breakthroughs can be found. Spending your time writing, imaging, and in nature where you can free yourself up from this concept of linear time where instead all things are possible!

The great thing about SMART goals is that at least it has many creating goals because a framework for setting goals is way better than not having any goals. We all need a vision (a big goal or dream) for our life to know which direction to point the boat (our body). I see goals as the little markers or performance indicators on the way to our overall vision for our life. Some may feel like they don’t currently have a big vision, and that’s ok, I can show you how to begin creating one in my course :) It doesn’t have to be super specific or huge and world-altering. But it is essential to know what you value in life, how you want to feel, and what you want to contribute in a general sense because this gives us motivation and will to live and find joy in each day.

Because even though I said in the beginning that smart goals are dull, what is truly dull is not having any direction or destination you want to experience. What is really mundane is not trying to grow and become better each day. What’s really uninspiring and boring is having no passion or desire for life! So if smart goals allow you to have a framework you like, keep using them! At least you have a destination!

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