A Less SMART Approach to Goal Making
Often we make goals when we are feeling the most ambitious and motivated. These often end up being too strict or unrealistic in timeline, scope, and our current abilities. We need to take into account that life rarely goes smoothly and make sure that there is enough room for bad days and life changes to still be successful. Focusing on goals that have personal, intrinsic value and are more process over result based helps working toward your goals fun and achievable.
Process Vs Outcome Based Goals
Outcome based goals, like SMART goals, can be useful in goal setting, but can also lead to a negative feeling feedback loop when outcomes are not met. Process based goals focus on building and maintaining habits as the goal, which alleviates the pressure of a specific outcome being achieved. It’s a method of goal setting that takes into account the differences between genetics, environmental circumstances, and fact that people are imperfect and have bad days. Process based goals more often lead to long term success because they help people learn to enjoy the practice and decouple the feeling of accomplishment from an ultimate outcome.