#4 Why SMART goals are important and how you can use them to become your best version of you ⋆ TechPixies

#4 Why SMART goals are important and how you can use them to become your best version of you

We are 3 weeks into a series breaking down the tools we use here at TechPixies to help you not only think about upskilling with tech but also how to get in the right mindset so that you can visualise your future.

The next step in the process is to set SMART goals. Now that you’ve got a vision, you need to stop dreaming and start doing. Yes that’s right, we’re taking action this week!

IMPORTANT: You will need a pen and paper. We’ve conveniently put together a nice little SMART Goals Cheatsheet to help you.

It’s amazing what putting pen to paper can do. Studies have proven that writing down your goals and having a plan of action means you are much more likely to accomplish them. Now to make it easy, we have set out the best ways to do this.

Here are two techniques that will help you turn your vision into action:

  1. Break your vision down into actionable tasks – Have you heard of SMART goals? We’ve tweaked them a bit. Our version of SMART goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Resonant and Thrilling. Thinking about the big picture is great, but to overcome the overwhelm, you need to break it down into smaller, more attainable tasks. Write down the one thing you can you can do TODAY, this WEEK and in the next 4 WEEKS to move closer to your goal? What does accomplishing your goal mean to you? How will you feel when you’ve accomplished it? Remember to download the cheatsheet!
  1. Share your plan – You are much more likely to achieve your goals if you share your plans with someone else. Getting someone to hold you accountable to your plan will help it all become real. So, who are you going to ask to hold you to account?

Here are some examples of real life women in our tribe who have set SMART goals:

Meet Miranda Cousins, owner of Harta Living a furniture and home decor online shop. Prior to becoming an online retailer, Miranda worked in Sales and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical industry.  

Following a redundancy, Miranda decided to move her career away from the corporate world, but was still unclear as to what direction to go in. She did however know that with any future career she would need to brush up on her digital and social media skills.

The idea of setting up an online store was nothing more than a simple dream. That is until she began her TechPixies Face to Face course which is when the lightbulb moment happened. As the weeks went by on the course and as she got to know the rest of the Cohort, Miranda began to see her idea as more than just a dream.

She became more confident talking about it and received lots of enthusiasm from her fellow TechPixies. This is what really changed it for Miranda – it made it feel real. The next challenge was harder though. How do you make it a reality and a successful one at that?! It was the HOW to make it happen that was missing! That’s where the SMART goals came in.

Realising her potential

“Jess, our Life Coach helped me to focus.”

Jess Rogers was the Life Coach on the Face to Face Course who challenged Miranda to properly formulate her idea of what it was she wanted to do and helped her define it into her BHAG (aka Big Hairy Audacious Goal).

“It was really our Life Coach who made me realise that this was what I wanted to do and what it would take to do it. She helped me to formulate my idea through the process of SMART goals”

How to take Action without Fear

Working with Jess, Miranda mapped out her SMART goals to see how she would achieve her BHAG of setting up the business. Jess showed Miranda how to reduce her fear fear by taking a big goal and breaking it down into sizeable chunks. Sounds simple doesn’t it? But so many people never do this step and that is why fear overtakes their ability to take action.

Making SMART Goals Consistent Business Practice

Miranda’s SMART goals where not just for the short-term. She continued to apply the tactics  (and still does) on a regular basis to overcome any new challenges within her new business:

“When I was doing my second pop-up shop in Wallingford one of the goals was to build the social media platform, but considering all the other tasks involved with the shop (day to day running of the shop, accounting, buying etc) I knew it was going to be difficult to complete this to a good level so took on a few of my fellow TechPixies to help grow my social media presence. When I finished with the pop-up shop it became abundantly clear yet again that I had too many hats to wear so I continued to work with TechPixies grads to keep the momentum going on social media.”

Miranda feels that the combination of improving her digital skills, realising her true potential and setting SMART goals, got her to where she is now.

“The course was so much more than just learning social media. Having the life coaching included was what made the course for me. By the end of TechPixies course I had a plan of what I needed to do to set up Harta Living.”

Want to run a 5k? There’s a SMART Goal for that!

Take Jenny, TechPixie’s very own Digital Marketing Manager. She is super keen to get back into exercise after taking some eh hem time off from it. Jenny has set herself a task of being able to run a 5k. We’re very excited for her and can’t wait to follow her progress! So let’s get down to business, how is Jenny going to use SMART goals to achieve this?

The Goal

  • Specific – Run a 5k.
  • Measureable – Track distance and progress each time Jenny runs an easy way to do this is with a cool running app. Conveniently, our friends over at Proviz Sports just wrote a blog post about the best running apps! So, when you are finished reading this, go check it out!
  • Accountable – Joy Foster Founder of TechPixies is going to be keeping tabs on Jenny (and she has promised to be relentless)
  • Resonant – Jenny has wanted to do this for a long time. It will mean a lot to her when she actually does it.
  • Thrilling – Physically and mentally, it will feeling amazing. What’s not to love about that? It may even get Jenny to set a BHAG of running a 10k. Ok we’re getting a little over excited. A woman can dream right?

The Plan

We’re off to a flying start! However as you will now know, to really make this happen it’s not about just heading out the door and running until you’re out of breath! It’s about breaking down the goal into attainable tasks. So for Jenny, here’s what she is going to do:

  • TODAY – Dust off her running shoes (they’re in the roofspace – enough said!).
  • TOMORROW – Download the Couch to 5k App.
  • BY END OF NEXT WEEK – Two short runs completed

So there you have it, now you know what it takes to achieve your goal. Don’t forget to write it down and then put in place a plan. When you accomplish your initial plan, than do the process again Now you know what you need to do, so go on and do it!

We want to know about your goals and the plans. Drop them in comments of our SMART Goals Facebook video.

Download the SMART Goals Cheatsheet

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