Are SMART goals stupid?

You probably have heard of smart goals. It is a very common practice when it comes to goal setting.

What are SMART GOALS?

Smart is a mnemonic acronym, to help us remember what they are.

And so, I had to google it, because, well, I couldn’t remember, for the life of me what the letters stand for. Here they are:

• S is for specific
• M is for measurable
• A is for achievable
• R is for relevant
• T is for time-bound.

Makes pretty good sense, and also it makes me think i’m in a depressing episode of Sesame Street.

The title of this post is, are SMART goals stupid?

That’s just me trying to be witty. (#fail)

Truth be told though, they are not stupid, just not aligned with my philosophy of life, as an aspiring stoic. This article is me trying to explain to you why I think you should not focus on this type of goal setting technique.

When you think of a specific measurable goal, what comes first to mind: it needs to be something that precisely brings me where I want to go, and at the same time, letting me know when I am there.

Sounds reasonable.

Here is why I don’t agree with this, though

These SMART goals, together with many of these goal-setting techniques from the 80s, are setting up the goal setter in the mindset that they should be focused on the outcome of the goal.

What you want to achieve, by what date, and with a specific number.

This is an incredible source of stress and anxiety. I understand that certain industries still function in a waterfall model and need to have set deadlines. But studies are showing us again and again, that this is really backward thinking.

Outcomes are ALWAYS out of our control

An outcome is always out of our control.

The only thing that is within your control is the process.

You can only do the best you can. After that, anything can happen. You can get struck by a constraint of your reality, a constraint of nature, or a constraint of your environment.

The Stoic Arrow

I love the analogy of the stoic arrow. What can an archer really do? He can work on making the best arrows and bows possible. He can practice his vision. He can practice his craft. He can spend 12 hours a day practicing shooting in every possible condition he might think of. In the rain, in the snow, on a horse, in the dark, you name it.

Comes the day when he needs to make that shot. It is a matter of life and death. He takes out his arrow, puts it on the string of his bow. This is all done on autopilot because he has practiced so efficiently, for way more than the recommended 10 000 hours.

He takes aim. Nice deep inhale, and at the swing of his exhalation, he lets go of the arrow.

CUT!! Shouts the director.

WHY???

Because that is it. It is the shot. The shot is done. The arrow is in the air. Everything else is irrelevant to the archer. The archer has done his job.

But, I can hear you say, what happened? Did he reach his target? Did he make his shot?

I don’t know. The stoic archer doesn’t know. He doesn’t care either. He knows he has succeeded because he knows that he did the best he could. He trained hard and took the shot with the best focus and intention he can possibly express.

What happens next, is out of the archer’s control.

To worry about whether the arrow reaches the bulls eye, is unreasonable. It is beyond his control.

Many things can indeed happen. The wind can make a sudden Swoosh and throw the arrow against a tree. A bird can, very unluckily fly right in the arrow, not only killing itself but changing the trajectory of the arrow completely.

You see where I am getting at don’t you?

Coach Wooden’s definition of success.

Remember? The hall of Famer, regarded by many professionals as the best basketball coach in history:

“Success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you’re capable.”

The outcome is irrelevant. (If you have never read a book by the Coach, start with this one)

The reason why Coach wooden was so successful, was that he never looked at the scoreboard during a game. He focused on the strategy. On each ball played. On the way, his players tied their shoes.

Have you checked out my YouTube video on Coach Wooden’s pyramid of Success? If not, you can watch it here.

He would even take care of the way his players put on their socks. The reason is simple: badly put socks may produce friction inside the shoe, which may create a blister, even a small one, that will diminish the efficiency of the player’s training or game.

I love to imagine that scene where, at their training, these big basketball players, national champions, are being made to practice putting their socks on and tying their shoes. But it makes sense, doesn’t it? The small details in the processes are what matter. These are how you become successful. The outcome is irrelevant. Focusing on the outcome will only create anxiety, stress, or on the contrary, arrogance, and cockiness.

And so this is why I am against SMART goals. They make the goal setter focus on the outcome more than on the process.

The solution then?

Intrinsic goals. The goal of always doing the best you can, knowing what you are doing, and most of all, WHY you are doing it. Making a plan that is aligned with your purpose, while operationalizing your values and virtues. You might think that this is not really appropriate to most people, especially in corporate settings. I don’t think that is true.

You know what you have to do, you know what the company you are working for stands for, its identity and culture, its purpose, its fundamental WHYs. Your unique goal, is to get the essential, important things done, to your best of your capability.

Coach wooden won because he never wanted to win!

He only wanted to play the best basketball possible, because he so very much loved the game.

In Principles (a FANTASTIC book, get your copy here), Ray Dalio explains that he was passionate about the systems and algorithms he was designing in order to predict movements in the market. He didn’t even care about the money and about getting rich. That’s not how he was raised and educated.

Sure he is one of the 100 wealthiest men on the planet, but he would NEVER have become so rich if his goals were to become rich.

Something to think about next time you set your goals. Let me know what you think about this subject. Send me a tweet

Originally published at https://www.raphaelreiter.com on January 3, 2021.