Set Smart Big Goals

I met a friend of mine just recently at a tech event. This friend was my supposed best friend during my elementary days in school. To put it in a more proper sentence, we met during my formative (Primary) school days. we lost contact as his parent relocated to another state while I continued my schooling in Lagos. I was shocked and happy to meet him at that event as I was a guest, and he was the Cameraman covering the events.

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I remember during my primary school days when he had a goal of being an Aeronautics engineer while my goal was just to become a banker. As of that time, picking a profession was the easiest thing to do as we were unaware of the requirements and sacrifices one has to put into actualising those dreams, especially in a nation where education is not valued and the government is doing next to nothing in taking education to a much bigger and better platform.

That aside, I became a banker in the end (Qualification wise), while my friend ended up as a cameraman (Although he is more affluent and more comfortable than I am). The key highlight was that as we were craving this position, we hadn't considered and weighed the options and tools at our disposal, which could help actualise our goals. We thought it was a straightforward thing to do, but we found out we could not have been more wrong.

My friend had a big goal, but the country's educational system at that time did not provide the essential tools needed to become an aeronautics engineer. None of the universities around at that time provided the course which could serve as a pathway towards achieving his goal, and in the end, he substituted his goal for something else. My friend's goal was Big, but it was not SMART as when it was set.

That brings up the question of what SMART goals are?

SMART goals are goals which are S = Specific, M = Measurable, A = Attainable, R = Relevant and lastly T = Time-Bound

While we were young and filled with dreams, some goals were unrealistic as they were not SMART goals, and there was no way to measure and attain them. These set goals were more of wishes than targetted objectives. As I grew older, setting goals became much clearer, and I knew what to implement to ensure the goals were met.

For example, A Tech firm aims to grow its customer base by 40% within a year. This goal is an example of a SMART goal, and the reason is simple.

To start with, the goal is Time-bound: that means the goal is to be achieved within one year. Also, the firm's goal was specific; they aimed to Increase the customer base. That means increasing their client list. The goal set is also measurable as they have chosen that the growth of their customer bases must be 40% or more. This makes tracking and measuring the goal much more straightforward. This means that, let's say, the Tech's current customer base amounts to 100 in total; a shift to 150 customers means that the goals were met. Also, a goal must be Relevant and the one above is as an increase in customer base will automatically mean that the overall goal of most businesses which is making a considerable profit, will be met. Lastly, the Tech company's resources on the ground will ascertain whether the goal is attainable. Still, a goal like this will be attainable for a Tech company as they could introduce new products to increase client retention and onboarding.

Thanks for reading; kindly drop your thoughts under this post's comment.