Why You Should Set DUMB Goals Instead Of SMART Goals

Everywhere we look in business we see are told to set SMART Goals.

For those of you who do not know what a SMART Goal is. It stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

They are a way to play small and achieve goals dictated to you by business owners, as a way of keeping their goals on track.

We have been made to believe that SMART goals are what will get us further up the corporate ladder. They are the goals that we set that are relevant to our job, that we can measure to check performance, that are achievable so we cannot fail, and specific, so we can move forward.

However, I would argue who in the hell wants that? Why would anyone want that? How do you expect to be motivated driven and ready by that mark? Not to become our best selves to find the motivation that lies deep within us we have to look past smart goals we have to break out of this conformity and look for DUMB goals instead.

The goals that allowed man to walk on the moon, to invent spaceships, to invent Amazon to build the electric car, to launch Facebook. None of this can be achieved by SMART goals. So instead I challenge you to set DUMB goals.

What is a dumb goal? Well, they are:

Destiny Driven:

What fires you up? What is your dream? What gets you up in the morning with a sense of purpose and excitement. That is what your goal should be rooted in, not what business thinks you should achieve but what you want to achieve for yourself.

Uplifting:

Make sure your goals are positive, that they push you forward and inspire you every day. You do not want to be bogged down by negative goals that will only bring you down and demotivate you.

Goals like wanting to lose weight are not going to work, you are aiming for a negative. Instead of saying I want to shred weight so I can be the most energetic person in the room, I can win at the parent’s race on my child’s sports day. That is uplifting, that is a positive and that can get you fired up ready for the challenge.

Method Friendly:

Your goals need to have practices that you can do daily to accomplish your goals. Whether that be posting on social media or uploading a video or making cold calls, there have to be daily practices that allow you to move yourself up towards your goal

Behaviour Driven:

Your goal should be something that you do, not something that you achieve. This is a big one, it changes the whole focus of your goal from an outcome to a behaviour. It means setting goals such as “I am going to work on my business for two hours every day” rather than “I want my business to make £100,000 this year”. The first goal sets the tone for what your behaviour will be and allows you some wiggle room on whether or not you hit the monetary target.

So there you have it, four simple steps to set DUMB goals instead of SMART ones. I guarantee if you follow these guidelines then your outcomes will change and so will your life. So go out there and begin to change your life.

Until tomorrow this is your coach Andy.