I think of goal-setting as a compass for the whole year, guiding us to do things that actually match our own purpose in life. In a hectic year full of everyday concerns, we sometimes lose track and ask ourselves "Why am I even doing this?" — and that's when the goals we set at the start of the year help us easily escape that feeling of being lost and get back on track!
If you haven't set your goals for the year yet, go ahead, brew yourself some tea or coffee, find a comfortable seat, and read this post. In this post I'll help you set goals for the new year properly and effectively using the SMART principle. 🎆🎆🎆
What is the SMART principle?
The SMART goal-setting principle is a useful approach for defining and effectively achieving goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This means every goal needs to be clearly defined, measurable, achievable, meaningful, and have a specific deadline. Let's go through each criterion to understand what it means in more detail.
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Specific
A really common mistake when people first start setting goals is setting a very generic, vague goal. A vague goal makes it hard for you when it comes to actually acting on it. Your goal needs to be clear and specific — something you understand as soon as you read it.
⛔️ "I'll try to make more money" => Not specific, vague
✅️ "I'll reach the same salary level as Minh Duc" => Way clearer 🤣!!!
Measurable
Your goal needs to be measurable. Being measurable helps you track your progress and know when you've hit the goal. In my view, the best way to make something measurable is to attach numbers to your goal. When you see the numbers climbing over time, with progress getting close to the goal, it fuels the motivation to keep pushing toward it.
⛔️ "I'll reach a really high salary" => The word "high" is hard to pin down — you might think a high salary is 30 million/month, but someone else might think 50 million/month counts as high.
✅️ "I'll reach a salary of 100 million/month"
Achievable
The goal you set shouldn't be too high — it needs to be achievable. Why? Because if you set the goal too high, when you try your best and still don't reach it, it becomes very easy to make excuses and quit halfway through. That doesn't mean you should set an overly easy goal either — that removes the challenge and kills your motivation to conquer it. The best way to find a sensible threshold is to base it on data. This data can come from:
- Historical data. For example, your salary on average goes up 20% every year
- Data from reports. For example: the average salary for a Java dev with 3 years of experience is 30 million/month, from the 2023 IT Salary Report
So say your current salary is 30 million/month, what's a sensible goal to set:
⛔️ "I'll reach a salary of 60 million/month" => A 200% salary increase in 1 year isn't reasonable.
✅️ "I'll reach a salary of 40 million/month" => a 33% increase? Switching jobs could definitely get you that.
Relevant / Realistic
The goal you set needs to support or serve as a stepping stone toward something bigger: your 5-10 year goals, your IKIGAI purpose in life, the things you actually want out of life. We have limited time and resources, so we need to set goals that are practical and support the bigger things we want.
Say you have a 10-year goal of reaching "financial freedom" by age 40 — how should you set this year's goal:
⛔️ "I want to travel to 5 foreign countries this year" => Unrelated to the bigger goal, even works against it.
✅️ "I'll reach an income of 100 million/month"
Time-Bound
Setting a goal without a timeframe makes it very easy for that goal to become "elastic." Limiting a task or goal to a fixed period gives you the motivation to act and finish on time. At the same time, putting a timeframe on a goal also makes it easier to track progress and shift your focus if a goal looks like it won't hit its deadline.
⛔️ "I'll reach a salary of 100 million/month"
✅️ "I'll reach a salary of 100 million/month by Q2 2024"
A few questions to clarify things
Here are a few questions you can try answering to clarify your goal for each criterion:
- Specific: What's your ultimate goal? What do you want to achieve? How will you achieve that goal?
- Measurable: What number can this goal be measured by? What's a sensible threshold for this number? Does this number actually reflect completing the goal or the desire behind it?
- Achievable: Can you actually complete this if you put in your full effort? Is there any objective or historical data to estimate this with?
- Realistic/Relevant: Does this goal fit your life's purpose? Does it support your longer-term goals?
- Time-bound: How long do you need to complete this goal? What's a sensible start and end date? Is there any objective data to reference?
SMART isn't the only framework for setting goals — there are other tools like OKR that are also quite good. Feel free to explore more and pick whichever approach fits you best.
Wrapping up
So that's the post! Do you have some ideas in mind now for setting your goals this year? Hopefully you do — if not, start thinking right now. This relaxed stretch during Tet is an ideal time to come up with goals that hit the Realistic criterion. If you already have your goals for the new year, feel free to share them with everyone — that's also a way to hold yourself more accountable to the goal you've set.
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And finally, wishing you and your family great health, full of energy, wealth, and success reaching every goal in the new year!!! 🏁🏁🏁