Get SMART About Goal-Setting
Without even knowing you, it’s easy to guess that there are things you would like to change in your life. You are probably working toward something, whether it be a goal job, a goal grade, a goal weight, or a goal relationship. If you are striving for anything in your life, then you need to be setting goals.
Goal-Setting and the Digital Corps
At the Digital Corps, we have a set of Corps values that guide our actions. We are committed to being student-centered, preparing students for the workforce, and striving to be the best, among several other values. With these values in mind, we recently implemented our own goal-setting program. Students are encouraged to choose one goal they want to work on. This focus on the students’ goals allows them to take time to improve themselves either professionally or personally.
Students at the Digital Corps use a guideline to help them set goals. This method, called SMART goal-setting, is a simplistic yet comprehensive way to set goals. Let’s learn more about what the SMART goals method is and how our students use it to reach their own goals.
SMART Goals
SMART isn’t just describing the way a goal is set, it is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. To further drive home the point, Design Team Specialist Emily Mixter’s and Project Management Team Apprentice Connor Sanburn’s goals will serve as examples.
Emily’s SMART Goal: My goal is to be ready for an internship in New York or Chicago by using this semester to research different ad agencies, update my portfolio, and apply.
Connor’s SMART Goal: My goal is dedicate three hours every week this semester to focus on my mental health by doing yoga or reading a book to refresh myself.”
~ Specific
Your goal should specifically state your intentions. The less ambiguity, the better. After all, how can you know if you have reached your goal if you don’t know your goal to begin with? The answer: you can’t. So be specific to avoid confusion.
Emily Mixter has made it her goal to be internship-ready by the end of the semester. She specifically defines this goal as, “being ready for an internship in either New York or Chicago by researching different ad agencies, updating my portfolio, and applying.”
Connor Sanburn has made it his goal to improve his personal health by taking time during the week to slow down and de-stress. This might sound easy to some, but with 2 jobs, 3 positions in his fraternity, and classes, Connor’s schedule is usually full. “Specifically, my SMART goal is to dedicate three hours a week doing yoga or reading a book to refresh myself,” said Connor.
~ Measurable
On your path to reach your specific goal, it is important to have a way to measure your progress. If you do not meet a deadline, then you have a way to measure how that will affect your overall goal.
Emily’s goal is measurable because she has it broken down into three parts: the research phase, the ‘updating her portfolio’ phase, and the applying phase. These three milestones divide the semester into thirds. Having this general timeline gives Emily a way to measure her progress to know if she is going to meet her goal in time.
Connor measures his goal by blocking off the three hours for refreshing activities in his usually full calendar. Additionally, he marks the time in a note-taking app, just as an extra reminder, and keeps track of the hours he completes. Having the time marked and keeping track of the hours holds him accountable to his goal.
~ Attainable
The goals you set for yourself should be realistically achievable. It is important to keep this in mind when setting your goal so you don’t set yourself up for failure. This requires you to be very honest with yourself about your time, your skills, and your determination.
As a talented junior advertising major with two years of experience as a designer at the Digital Corps, Emily is confident that her goal to be internship-ready by the end of the semester is attainable. “I think as long as I display my skills with my portfolio, I should see results,” said Emily.
When making his goal, Connor wanted to challenge himself, but still set an attainable goal. “As I was brainstorming my goal with Assistant Director Charity Coffman, she first suggested one hour of ‘me-time’, but I wanted to push myself, so I set my goal at three hours,” said Connor. Connor is sure he can achieve this goal even with all his other commitments.
~ Relevant
As you are making your goal, ask yourself this question, “Is it worth it?” Is it relevant for where you want to go? As you are striving to reach your goal, you are going to make sacrifices at some point. You need to ask yourself if the end result justifies the work and sacrifices. If it is not, it is time to think about moving on to a new goal.
Emily’s goal is relevant for getting her where she wants to go in her professional career. With a dream to work at an ad agency in a big city, completing an internship at an ad agency in New York or Chicago would give her the experience needed to set herself apart.
“While the design team at the Corps has helped me gain general design experience, an advertising internship specifically would provide relevant advertising experience,” said Emily.
Connor’s goal is relevant because his personal health affects everything he is able to do. As he recovers from an appendectomy, he is realizing just how important it is to slow down and take care of himself.
~ Time-bound
What do we want to do? Reach our goals! When do we want to do it? *Crickets noises*. If this is how you feel about goal-setting, then you will want to pay attention during this section. If a goal is not time-bound, it is easy to keep pushing it off and never achieving it. To counteract our tendency to put our goals off, start right by setting a deadline on your goal. This does not have to be set in stone, but giving yourself a general deadline will help motivate you to achieve your goal on time.
“Internships have deadlines which make my goal time-bound,” said Emily.
For the internships that she is applying for, most of those deadlines are sometime between December and February. By setting her goal deadline to be internship-ready by December, Emily will be prepared to apply.
“Right now this goal is three hours, every week, until the end of the semester. I might even try to keep it for next semester as well,” said Connor.
So basically…
Goal-setting should be a significant part of everyone’s life. It is natural to set goals as we strive to improve our lives. The more care and thought we put into setting those goals, the more we set ourselves up for success. With nearly 70 students following the SMART goal guidelines, we are beginning to see results. We hope that other people will find success using this method as well.
