Beyond Wishful Thinking: How to Write S.M.A.R.T. Goals That Actually Work
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." --Henry David Thoreau
Introduction: The Ambiguity Trap
Let’s imagine you walk into a restaurant. The waiter comes over and asks, "What would you like to eat?" You say, "I want food."
What happens next? The waiter is confused. He doesn't know what to bring you. He might bring you a salad when you wanted a steak. He might bring you soup when you wanted dessert. You will probably leave that restaurant hungry and frustrated.
This sounds silly, right? You would never order "food." You would order "The cheeseburger with no onions and a side of fries."
But here is the hard truth: Most people order from the menu of life just like that first example.
They say things like:
"I want to make more money."
"I want to have a better business."
"I want to get in shape."
These are not goals. These are wishes. This is the Ambiguity Trap. Ambiguity means "vagueness" or "lack of clarity." When you are vague, you give your brain permission to be lazy.
"I want to make more money" is a trap because if you find a penny on the sidewalk, technically, you have made more money. Did you achieve your goal? Yes. Are you happy? No.
At Larsen Family Enterprises Group and Legacy Protection Services, we see this all the time. Agents come in with big hearts and big dreams, but fuzzy goals. They run hard, but they don't know exactly where the finish line is.
If you want to stop "winging it" (as we discussed in our first article) and start winning, you need a better goal setting framework. You need to stop making wishes and start making targets. You need to move from "I hope" to "I will."
Today, we are going to teach you the system used by the most successful companies in the world, from Google to Intel to Primerica’s top leaders. It is called the S.M.A.R.T. method.
S - Specific & M - Measurable: The Binary Test
The first two letters of the acronym are the most critical. If you get these wrong, the rest doesn't matter.
S stands for Specific. M stands for Measurable.
Together, they help you pass what we call "The Binary Test." Binary means "two." In computers, everything is a 1 or a 0. On or Off. Yes or No.
Your goal must be so clear that if a stranger looked at your life, they could say "Yes, they did it" or "No, they didn't." There should be no middle ground. There should be no "maybe."
The "Specific" Part
"Doing some work" is not specific. "Making phone calls" is not specific. To be specific, you need to paint a picture. You need to define the Who, What, and Where. Instead of "I’m going to recruit," say "I am going to recruit personal insurance agents." Instead of "I’m going to save money," say "I am going to save for a down payment on a house."
The "Measurable" Part
This is where the numbers come in. As the famous management consultant Peter Drucker taught in his concept of Management by Objectives, "What gets measured, gets managed."
If there is no number, there is no goal.
Weak Goal: "I will talk to people about the business."
Measurable Goal: "I will talk to 10 people about the business."
See the difference? If you talk to 9 people, you failed. If you talk to 10, you succeeded. That is the Binary Test.
This clarity removes the emotional wiggle room. When you have a vague goal like "do my best," you can always lie to yourself. You can have a lazy day and tell yourself, "Well, I felt like I did my best." But you cannot lie to a number. The scoreboard doesn't care about your feelings.
By using SMART goals examples like this, you create a scorecard for your life. It sounds strict, but it is actually liberating. You know exactly when you are done. You know exactly when you can celebrate.
A - Achievable & R - Relevant: The Reality Check
Now that we have a specific number, we need to make sure it is the right number.
A stands for Achievable. R stands for Relevant.
The "Achievable" Part: Stretching vs. Breaking
A goal needs to be hard, but not impossible. We often talk about the difference between "Stretching" and "Breaking."
Think about lifting weights. If you can lift 50 pounds easily, and you try to lift 55 pounds, that is a stretch. It will be hard. You might grunt. Your muscles will burn. But you will get stronger. If you try to lift 500 pounds, that is a break. You won't lift it, and you might drop it on your foot and get hurt.
In your Primerica business, you need to find your stretch zone.
If you currently recruit 0 people a month, setting a goal of 100 recruits next month is a break. You will fail, feel like a loser, and quit.
Setting a goal of 1 recruit is a stretch. It requires effort, but you can do it.
Success is a habit. You want to set Achievable goals so that you can get used to winning. Once you lift the 55 pounds, then you move to 60.
The "Relevant" Part: Does it Pull the Thread?
In our last article, we talked about the "Golden Thread" that connects your daily actions to your big vision. Relevant simply means: Does this goal matter?
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. You could set a SMART goal to "Stack 10,000 dominoes in a straight line by Friday."
Is it Specific? Yes.
Is it Measurable? Yes.
Is it Achievable? Yes.
Is it Relevant? No.
Stacking dominoes does not help you pay your mortgage. It does not help you protect families. It does not help you build a legacy.
When operationalizing business goals, you must ask: "If I achieve this goal, does my life actually get better?" If the answer is no, throw the goal away.
T - Time-bound: The Deadline Magic
The final letter is T for Time-bound.
A goal without a deadline is just a dream. Deadlines are what create action.
There is a famous concept called Parkinson’s Law. It states: "Work expands to fill the time available for its completion."
If I give you 30 days to clean your garage, it will take you 30 days. You will procrastinate for 29 days and clean it on the last day.
If I give you 3 hours to clean your garage because guests are coming over, you will get it done in 3 hours.
The garage is the same size. The mess is the same. The only difference is the deadline.
When you write a goal, you must stamp a date on it.
"I will get my insurance license." (No urgency. Could take 5 years).
"I will get my insurance license by March 31st." (Urgency. Now you have to study tonight).
In the book Measure What Matters, legendary investor John Doerr talks about OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). He worked with the founders of Google when they were just a tiny company. He taught them that every objective must have a strict timeline. This is how they grew from a garage startup to one of the biggest companies on earth.
Deadlines force you to focus. They force you to say "no" to distractions. They light a fire under you.
At Legacy Protection Services, we want you to run your race with urgency. Don't let your work expand to fill a whole year. Compress your timeline, and you will multiply your results.
Case Study: The Transformation
Let’s look at a real-life example of how this works for a Primerica agent.
The "Before" Goal (The Wish): "I want to grow my team and make more money this year."
The Critique:
Specific? No. "Grow" and "more" are vague.
Measurable? No. How much is "more"?
Time-bound? Sort of ("this year"), but it's too long (The Horizon Problem).
The Transformation: Let’s run this through the S.M.A.R.T. filter.
The "After" Goal (The S.M.A.R.T. Goal): "I will personally recruit 3 new agents (Specific/Measurable) who are non-licensed (Specific) and help them pass their exam (Relevant) by 5:00 PM on the last Friday of this month (Time-bound)."
Why this works:
It passes the Binary Test. On the last Friday of the month, did you recruit 3? Yes or No.
It is Achievable (3 is a stretch, but possible).
It triggers Parkinson's Law (you have a deadline).
When you wake up in the morning with the second goal, you know exactly what to do. You pick up the phone. You set appointments. You study with your recruits. You are focused.
Stop wishful thinking. Stop hoping for the best. Take control of your future by writing goals that demand action.
Sit down today with a pen and paper. Look at your wishes. Turn them into S.M.A.R.T. goals. And then, get to work.
