Setting goals that are SMART?
There is a school of thought that all goals need to be
"S.M.A.R.T." that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Trackable/or timely. Honestly, I heard about this in corporate culture years ago but have come back to it lately. While I agree with the sentiment, I knock it down to 4
because I feel like it is redundant for the sake of being a pretty acronym. So
the steps as I see them:
S Simple, Specific- If a goal is not specific how can you measure it? The question is how do you know you have arrived there? To that end a SMART goal is not: I want to do better at sword and buckler. Whereas: I want to get to a place where most matches, I can score on my opponent at least 4 times
M Measurable- Just like specific, this one is all about how you know you got there. In this way a goal of saying that you can run a mile
is measurable. One of you can just run more could be if you define where you
are so you can see improvement, but I want to run a lot or do a bunch of drills
is not unless you define what that means FOR YOU. Trackable/timely are really a
subset of measurable, but it is a question of a smaller timeline. How can you
prove to yourself that you are making progress? Timely is fine, but that really
falls into the next category.
A Attainable and Realistic- If you set a goal to be the best
sword fighter in class by your next competition and this is your 2nd month of
practice, that may be a stretch, unless you have a very bad class. Attainable
and Realistic are a good question of "Is this goal realistic for me given
my time and energy I am willing to devote to this?" If you are willing to
go to the gym 5 hours a day, getting to a point that you look like an Olympic
weight lifter is not out of the question on a long enough timeline. If you are
only willing to give it an hour a day, this will take longer. Asking "What
am I willing to do to get there?" is huge here. What are your resources,
what will it take to do that, and are you willing to do what you have to in
order to reach it? Timeliness comes into play here as well. "Is this
reasonable in the time I am giving it?" If you can be honest and realize
it is not there is nothing wrong with changing the timeline just be honest
about it.
One more thing is to realize that at times you may fail on
the way to getting there. If you are not
willing to stick with it do not be surprised if you never reach that goal. In the
example of sword and buckler, if you are not willing to stick with it, lose a
lot initially, and then use that experience to improve, then it is not a good
goal for you. You have to be willing to fall on your face in pursuit of your
goals, but that is the only way you get better. If you are only practicing with
people who you have no problem beating, you may not be the best, but rather you
are a big fish in a little pond and it is time to move on to something bigger
where you are actually challenged. If you have a trick that always works with
people who know you but does not with those who don't then it is only a trick
to those who know you, teach them how to beat it so you are not relying on it.
Lastly, be willing to tell people your goals and surround yourself
with find people who will keep you accountable. A practice partner that lets
you get away with sloppy technique and only doing half your speed or skill is
not your friend; they are doing you no favors by letting you get away with it.
You may be the best of friends outside of practice, but they are not a good
training partner for you. The best partners I have had both in terms of sword
and out are the ones who push me to do better. Often that means kicking my butt
so I know what I need to work on. In that way your greatest friends, are those
who are willing to call you on your crap, and who are your hardest opponents
inside the ring. If they say they want to practice or reach a goal and then do
nothing to reach it, call them on it. If you do the same, be willing to be
called out on it. Accountability is not a bad word, and those people who are
not willing to keep you to your word are doing you no favors, even if they
think they are.
