How To Set Smart Goals To Change Your Life

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Last week I was watching End Your Financial Self-Sabotage by Tonya Rapley on CreativeLive and was very inspired by it. One of the key takeaways from the class is how she sets financial goals. It was the first time I’ve heard of SITA goals, and I think that this is something that I will use from now on.

The problem with goal setting

I think the main problem with goal setting and planning is that we spend too much time on it and get discouraged before taking action.

The truth is that when you create a plan to reach a brand new life goal, you are probably going to be learning on the go and will have to change path many times before getting where you want to be.

So this is why I don’t like spending too much time planning, and instead, I do it and update my strategy with my learnings.

How to set SMART goals?

When I was studying international business in France and Mexico, we talked a lot about SMART goals.

SMART stands for:

• Specific: think about what, who, when, where, why
• Measurable: what metrics will you use to determine the success of your plan?
• Achievable: do you have the resources needed? knowledge, time, money, …
• Relevant: how does it fit into the big picture?
• Timely: what is your deadline?

I guess it works well for goals set at work, but I find it hard to use for personal goals. I feel that part of the SMART goal strategy is not always relevant. Especially measurable.

This is why when Tonya Rapley talked about SITA goals I connected to it.

How to set goals with SITA?

So what does SITA stand for?

• Specific: once again here we need to think about the 5w2h (what, who, when, where, why, how, how much)
• Inspirational: what will change by accomplishing this goal? Why do you need to make it happen?
• Timely: what is your deadline?
• Accountable: who will hold you accountable?

Why are SITA goals better than SMART goals?

First of all, I think that accountability is vital to reach any goal.

When you are at work you accountability partner is usually your boss and your coworkers. Whereas for personal goals, it can be anybody like friends, family, people working on a similar goal.

Today it’s really easy to find accountability partners. Just go on Facebook and ask who wants to work with you toward your goal, some people might already be working on it on their own 🙂 You can ask directly in your status or find a group close to the subject.

On top of accountability, I think that another critical factor to success is knowing your Why.

Goals can take a long time to reach and a lot of trial and error. So if you don’t know why you need to do it, it’s easy to give up.

For example, since I moved to the USA, I gain a lot of weight which I think is why I’m having pain in my knee when I walk too much. So instead of saying I need to lose weight, my goal is I need to get in better shape by eating healthier and exercising three times a week to be able to go on a hike this summer without pain in my knee. And of course, my accountability partner is my husband since we often eat together.

See the difference?

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Further reading:

• 5 Things You Need To Reach Your Goals
• What You Need To Know When You Create Your Morning Routine
• What You Need To Remember When Your Life Plans Change
• How To Be Strong When You Fail
• End Your Financial Self-Sabotage by Tonya Rapley [CreativeLive]

Over to you:

Have you tried to set SITA goals before?