Setting SMART objectives Template

How to set SMART goals for the next year? Use this template

Use this smart goals template to set your smart goals for the New Year.

SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. Try to make sure that your goals respect these standards.

Type in your goals for each month in the goals template. Choose an icon to set their priority level.

Set SMART Goals For Next Year

Why is it important to plan your year ahead?


Planning ahead for the next year has some highly important benefits: it contributes to your personal and business growth; it helps you set priorities and focus on them; you get to prevent all sorts of risks and get accustomed to change.

What is a goal?

A goal refers to an expected outcome that has one or several specific objectives which have to be achieved within a designated time frame. Regarding the time frame, goals can either be long-term goals, or short-term goals. These two basic categories can be further sub-divided:

• lifetime goals: part of long-term goals, these are major goals that have accomplishment dates of ten or more years in the future;

solving, innovation, or some type of improvement;

• capstone goals: key goals that need to be accomplished first before your lifetime goals. Their time frame is between one to ten years.
• foundational goals: short-term goals that can be achieved in less than a year;
• provisional goals: also known as stepping-stone goals, these goals can be accomplished in less than a month.

Remember that goals should relate to accomplishments (therefore the result), not activities.

What is S.M.A.R.T principle

S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym and it stands for:

• S - specific: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• M - measurable: defining quantity,

quality, cost, etc.

• A - achievable: a feasible goal
• R - relevant: important
• T - time-bound: intermediate and final deadlines.

Make a plan to achieve your goals

An accurate planning process will ensure you always know what your next move will be. This way, you will be prepared to handle change more easily: knowing all the next steps will help anticipating the risks. Also, it’s a great way to monitor your progress.

December

What are your goals for December? Type them in.
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

November

What are your goals for November? Choose an icon to set the priority levels:

October

Type in your goals for October. Choose an icon to set the priority level:

What steps do you have to take


in order to achieve this goal?

September

What are your goals for September? Choose an icon to set the priority level:

What steps do you have to take in order to achieve this goal? Example - in order to write first draft for your novel:

• write 1,000 words per day;
• reach out other writers to see how they published their books;
• start editing after just one week.

July

What are your SMART goals for July? Choose an icon to set the priority level:

June

Type in the SMART goals for June.
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

May

Type in your SMART goals for May.
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

What steps do you have to take in order to achieve this goal?

April

What are your SMART goals for April?
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

What steps do you have to take in order to achieve this goal? Example - to find several contacts that could turn into customers:

• go to a networking event at least twice a month;
• write guest post articles for targeted business audience;
• join Network Group for Small Businesses in the city your business is.

What type of goal is it?

March

Type in your SMART goals for March.
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

February

Type in the SMART goals for February.
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

What steps do you have to take in order to achieve this goal? Type in the answer.

January

SMART goal

Taking into account the areas you will want to focus on, type in the SMART goals for January.
Choose an icon to set the priority level:

Steps

What steps do you have to take in order to achieve this goal? Example: in order to learn tango, you should practice at least 1 hour, three times a week.

Step

Type

What type of goal is it?

Last Year

Review your past year


to see what you achieved and what areas you still want to improve. Do you have any regrets?

Lessons

Lesson

What lessons have you learned?

Mistakes

Regret

What were last year's mistakes?


Are there any challenges that you didn't manage to cope with? Is there anything you regret doing/not doing in the past year?

Improvements

Improvement

Could you have done things better?


Think from both personal and professional perspectives. What elements still need improvement? What would you do differently? Type in the answers.

Achievements

Achievement

What are your achievements in the past year?


Think of the major events that took place. What are you proud of/excited about?

Next Year

What do you have in mind for the following year?


Taking into consideration the year that has just passed, it's time to make new, bigger, bolder plans. Will you change the city/country you are living in? Are there any new skills you are planning to acquire? Are you taking a new career step?

Focus

Area

Choose several areas in which you are prepared to make a huge difference this year. Consider taking just a few, maybe just 2 or 3 areas. Having too may areas to focus on would imply a waste of your energy. List them and choose icons to set their priority levels: