“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.”
~ Tina Fey

First steps at new goals are tough, so just begin. Go down the chute! There’s only so much planning that has to happen before you take action. Just begin. And, action has this amazing way of revealing the next step, and it’s rarely the step you thought it would be. So, just begin. You are capable of so much more than you can even imagine, but you won’t get there just thinking about it. Just begin.

Watch the video below (a 2013 REBOOT) for an approach to goal setting that will get you excited to just begin, or read the transcript that follows… and then…begin!

Welcome back to Dream Big, Think Small. I’m Michelle Cederberg. In the last episode, I talked to you about resolutions, why they don’t work, and what you can do to find better success. If you haven’t watched that video yet, I encourage you to do so. It’s called “Break It Down”. It’s early in the year, so you have lots of time to hit that reset button, get this show back on the road, and find success with your goals. Which brings me to this month’s episode. I’m excited to talk about goal setting! Can you believe that? You’re probably familiar with S.M.A.R.T. goals. Well I think smart goals are pretty dumb. It’s hard to get excited about specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based…BORING. It’s good in theory, but really quite uninspiring. And if your goals mean anything at all to you, don’t you want to wrap them in possibility and excitement? I think you do.

So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to share with you a method of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting that I learned while I was doing my training as a Certified Professional Co-active Coach. We’re going to add some ART to your smart, and begin with the end in mind.

So time-based goals are practical. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m going to ask you to set those aside for the moment and make that first T, “Thrilling.” Thrilling! How can you refocus your goals so that you get excited about them and can’t wait to get to them every single day? That’s worth thinking about. Now the next R is usually, “Realistic”, really? We’re dreaming big here. So let’s change that one to “Resonance.” What do you need to do with that goal to make it meaningful to you? To make it vibrate in your body and have it say, “This is all about me!”

And the “A”, this is an important one, instead of “Attainable”, are you kidding me? Let’s stretch it a bit. “Accountability” is going to make sure you crush that goal.

Let’s look at the ART of that:

A thrilling goal might be to run your first marathon. Oh, that would be good.

A resonant goal would be, “oh my gosh, if I’m going to suffer through all that training, I’m gonna go somewhere great to run my marathon. Hawaii!”

And then the accountable part is, “I’m going to join a training program that meets every Saturday and Monday, and it’s going to hold me accountable, help me have fun along the way, and get me to my goal.” That’s the ART of it.

When that part of your goal setting is done, you get to keep the S and M in smart goal setting. “Specific” and “Measurable” is what small steps are all about. And it helps you to know when you’ve reached your goal and you get to celebrate success. See how easy this is?

It took me 10 years to write my first book. And it wasn’t 10 years of writing, it was 10 years of focusing the goal until it meant something to me. The thrill was always going to be to have the finished product. The resonant piece was finally getting a topic that meant something to me. The accountable piece was my book group that held me to writing those pages and getting that proposal done. And from there, my publisher held me to how many pages and when we needed to get the book done. Big. 10 years, within one year. “Energy Now!”

So there’s S.M.A.R.T. goals with ART added. Don’t you think that sounds like a lot more fun? Take a look at what you have on your big plans for this year and beyond, and add a little ART to your SMART.

Until next time, take a look at my website at michellecederberg.com, make sure you join me via the social links below, and you can buy my Energy Now! book here, it’s also available as a Kindle. Dream Big, Think Small. I’m with you.

This year is yours for the taking. Dare to live it big.

ps – if you’re interested in my ART of SMART article, email me via the website and I’ll send you a copy!

Michelle Cederberg, CSP, MKin, BA Psyc
CEP, CPCC, ORSC

Empowering today’s dreamers, leaders and go-getters to create the life and career they want.


www.michellecederberg.com
403-850-5589

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