SMART Goals

So many of your IPs, Studio 2B focus books and projects now require you to write goals. The easiest way to do that is to write SMART goals. SMART stands for strategic, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Here’s how to write a SMART goal:

Specific - Remember in English class learning about the 6 Ws? Keep these in mind when writing your goal.

  • Who - Who is involved?
  • When - Establish a time frame.
  • What - What do you want to accomplish?
  • Where - Where will this take place?
  • Which - Identify requirements and constrainsts.
  • Why - Why do you want to accomplish this goal.

Your original goal might be talk to new people at school. A SMART goals would be once a day (when) seek out and talk to one new person (who) at school (where) for the next three weeks (when) in order to make them feel more welcome (why).

Another general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a specific goal would say, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.”

Measurable - Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you know when you have reached your goal? Be specific! “I want to read 3 chapter books of 200 pages before my next birthday” shows the specific target to measure.  “I want to be well-read” is not as measurable.

Attainable - no pie-in-the-sky goals! (no matter how much you want to be Queen of the Universe!) A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real committment from you. For example, if you aim to lose 20lbs in one week, we all know that isn’t achievable. But setting a goal to lose 1lb and when you’ve achieved that, aiming to lose a further 1lb, will keep it achievable for you.

Realistic - Can you achieve your goal based on your available resources, knowledge and time? Are you really going to get up at 5:30 a.m. every morning to workout? If not, write a goal that fits your schedule and ability. Realistic is not a synonym for “easy.” Realistic, in this case, means “do-able.” Devise a plan or a way of getting there which makes the goal realistic. The goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment. A goal of never again eating sweets, cakes and chocolate may not be realistic for someone who really enjoys these foods.

Timely - Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, by 12th grade. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don’t set a time, the committment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there’s no urgency to start taking action now.

 Studio 2B Focus Book Tips

  • Begin by selecting a topic in the Studio 2B Focus series that interests you. You can work individually, with a buddy or as a group.
  • Then, review the table of contents and flip through the book to discover the activities. You can ask an adult advisor for help in figuring out what you would like to accomplish. In most of the books, you can use the last page to set goals for what you hope to learn through the activities in the book. The books are adaptable and flexible so that you can create your own set of goals, depending on your prior knowledge and skill level in that topic. For example, a girl who has never followed a running program would have very different goals for On Track from the girl who runs marathons - but both could enjoy the book’s skill-based activities.
  • The last page of each Studio 2B Focus book, except for Studio 2B Focus: Looking In, Reaching Out, has a page titled “My Goals.” You do not have to complete all of the activities in the book nor do you have to set a goal for each activity in the book. In fact, Focus books have differing numbers of activities. The topic of the book drives the number of activities it supports and the interests and skill level of the girl drives the number of activities she completes. You should look at all the activities in the book, decide what skills you can learn from those activities, and then set goals based on those skills.
  • If you want, discuss the completion of your goals with you advisor and the other girls in your group.
  • You get your charms after you have completed your goals and discussed them with you advisor. You can collect your charms wherever you want to - on a bracelet, on the charm holder, on a key chain or in your room.

Examples:

Studio 2B Focus: On the Go, Activity “Cook a foreign dish.” Some goals could be:

  • Shop for ingredients and cook two of the recipes for my family.
  • Create the menu and prepare a variety of dishes authentic to Senegal and serve them to girls and invited guests at a special dinner party.
  • Investigate dishes from my heritage and cook three of them. Submit a story about it to www.studio2b.org.
  • Ask my great-aunt about the family recipes she cooks on the holidays. Write them down and e-mail to family members.
  • Host an international brunch as a fundraiser to support a Studio 2B project.
  • Arrange to spend a day interning at a restaurant that serves international cuisine.
  • Invite students from a local culinary institute to share favorite recipes.

Studio 2B Focus: uniquely ME! Inside and Out, Activity “Up Close and Personal.” Some goals could be:

  • Make a video of me and my friends on the soccer team, practicing our drills. Look at the tape and decide what we need to improve and where we did great.
  • Take the quiz but complete it about myself instead of my friends. Then ask a close family member or friend to read it and see if they agree or disagree. Based on their answers, think about where I need to boost my self-esteem and make a plan to do so.

Studio 2B: Write Now, Activity “Look Around You.” Some goals could be:

  • Take an inventory of the stuff in my room and make a list of five things I love. Pick one of them and write a paragraph about it.
  • With the list of five things I love, decide what they say about me as a person. Write an article about that and submit it to www.studio2b.org
  • Share lists of things we love with my Studio 2B group and talk about what things we all had on our lists and the things we had that were different. Then each of us could share one thing that suprised us about what we had on our lists.