Insights from Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt

Think of one goal you regret not achieving in the last 12 months…
There may be many reasons you didn't complete your goal. But there is one primary reason you, me, and millions of people around the
world fail to achieve our goals each year: our goals are poorly defined.

Michael Hyatt has distilled the latest goal achievement science to make a S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal-setting system. Over the last few years,
Hyatt’s tested this system with thousands of people…and it works. Let's properly define the goal you regret not completing using the
S.M.A.R.T.E.R. checklist:

pecific
Compare "I want to make more money" to "I want to make $10,454 this month." The specificity of the later goal makes it
exciting and sticky, which means you're likely to recall it during the day and make more decisions that move you closer to
your goal.

Adding specificity to your goal reduces indecision. If your goal is to “Read more,” you may constantly wonder, "What should I be reading?"
But if make your goal, “Read more biographies of great leaders,” you know exactly where to direct your focus.

easurable
What is your percentage complete?

If your goal is, “Read more biographies of great leaders,” you can’t provide a clear answer. But if change your goal to, “Read
one biography of a great leader each month,” you could say, "I'm about 60% complete my reading goal this month."

When working on a habit goal, measure your current streak or success rate instead of percent complete. If you want to run 15 minutes
every weekday morning, tally your runs on a calendar so you can report that you have a 10-day streak, or that you’ve run 10 of the last 15
days and have a 67% success rate (which might be 17% better than last month).

When you know your percent complete, current streak, or success rates, you can take pride in your progress and stay motivated.

ctionable
Does your goal invoke a concrete action image? If you’re a freelance graphic designer and your goal is “Make $12,252 a
month,” it's difficult to see what you need to do to hit that goal. Double your clients? Sell more of an existing course? After
some thought, you might make your goal: “Launch a new graphic design course by June 30th.”

Start your goal with a concrete verb, and not “Have” or “Be.” (“Read one biography a month,” instead of “Be an avid reader”).

isky
Most goal-setting systems suggest setting reasonable goals. But if a goal doesn't invoke a bit of fear, uncertainty, and doubt,
you’re not maximizing your potential. In a meta-study of 400 goal-setting experiments, researchers found that people who
set lofty goals had a two-and-a-half-fold increase in performance over people who set reasonable goals.

Whatever your goal, try stretching it. Instead of “Read one biography a month,” can you, “Read two biographies a month?” When you
stretch your goal, you're bound to encounter a limiting belief. You might think, "I can't do two books a month. I'm a slow reader." Replace
that limiting belief with a liberating truth by adding the word “yet” to the end of your limiting belief. For example, “I’m a slow reader,”
becomes, "I'm not a fast reader yet." Replacing limiting beliefs with liberating truths will knock down internal obstacles, and you can
achieve more than you initially thought.

ime-keyed & Triggered

When you set a specific time to complete your goal, like “Read two biographies of great leaders each month,” you create a
sense of urgency, which dramatically increases the odds of you completing your goal. After establishing a goal deadline,
establish a reliable trigger (a specific time or existing habit) to ensure you take consistent action towards your goals. For example, "I will
read two biographies of great leaders each month BY reading every night at 9 PM.”

xciting
When you stop making progress and feel like quitting, it's important to remember why you were excited about your goal in
the first place. Therefore, before starting your goal, write down at least two meaningful reasons why you're excited and
motivated to accomplish that goal (Ex: "I'm reading leadership books to learn inspiring stories, which I can use to get through tough times
and inspire others.")

Keep the reasons you’re excited to complete your goal in a note on your phone so you can quickly read them when your motivation dips.

elevant (or Reality check)

If you’ve just had a child and you’re leading a big project at work, is now a good time in your life to set a new marathon goal?
Taking on too many goals (more than two major goals every three months) will significantly reduce the odds of
accomplishing any goal. Therefore, if a goal is not relevant to your current phase of life, wait for a better time.

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