Worst goals ever? Not SMART

How to set S.M.A.R.T. goals.

I wanted to be successful.

Five years later, I couldn’t tell if I’d achieved it. The goal was too vague to measure and gave me no clear action plan.

You can find hundreds of articles on how to set good goals, but what about how to set bad goals? This might sound counter-intuitive, but by inverting the problem, you see it from a new perspective and learn what should be avoided.

What to avoid

Blur the vision

I want to be a better engineer.

This is a blurred vision: highly subjective and without clear outcomes. What does it mean to be a better engineer? Without clearly defined definitions, progress is difficult to measure.

Antidote: Make goals specific, not prone to misinterpretation or subjectivity. Define what it means for you.

Fixed: For the next two months, I’ll write two technical articles each month about problems I solved at work and share them with my team members. Writing is the ultimate distillation of learning.

Don’t use numbers

I want to write more.

It’s important to be able to quantify your criteria because without measurements it’s difficult to track progress.

Antidote: Make your goals measurable. Define how many times, iterations, you will create.

Fixed: I’ll write 52 articles in 2025.

Aim for the impossible

I’ll read 300 books this year (when you usually read 16 each year)

With impossible or almost impossible definitions, it’s difficult to even start.

Antidote: Take into consideration your current resources, capabilities and past experiences while defining goals.

Fixed: I’ll read 24 books this year.

Make goals irrelevant

I want to pass AWS certification (when I’m a QA engineer and the company doesn’t use cloud)

What’s the point of these goals? Question your direction using the Five Whys to understand why you want to do them in the first place. Chasing fancy new technology just because it’s new doesn’t mean that it’s aligned with your career.

Antidote: Align goals with your vision, skills and an image of yourself in the future. These kinds of goals are the most rewarding and also easier to pursue.

Fixed: I want to learn API load testing scripts (in context where the company uses it to test the product, and it’s a requirement to be promoted)

Set for “someday”

Someday, I’ll run a marathon.

Without a clearly defined timeframe, it may never arrive.

Antidote: Be precise about timeframes. Without time in your calendar dedicated to working towards the set goal, it won’t be achieved.

As an old saying goes: Someday is the busiest day of the week.

Fixed: I’ll run a marathon on 12.10.2025 in Poznan, Poland.

SMART goals

SMART criteria were introduced by George T. Doran in November 1981, who advocated that goals need to be: specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-bound.

These evolved into SMART goals:

• Specific: It is well-defined what is to be achieved. The more specific, the better for quantification.

• Measurable: The progress can be clearly measured.

• Achievable: It is feasible given the current time and resources.

• Relevant: It aligns with growth, career paths, or the overall direction for an individual.

• Time-bound: The timeframe is clear, and the deadline encourages us to take action.

Examples:

• Publish 52 articles in 2025

• Read 24 leadership books in 2025, 2 each month, and share notes with my team.

Critique

SMART goals are great for setting performance goals, where we want to clearly measure progress, but tend to fall short with more open goals. For things that aren’t measurable, like culture, behaviours, mindset or creative work, it’s not the best choice. Some research shows that when the field is completely new SMART goals don’t work well.

I like SMART goals as these give me a sense of accomplishment. I enjoy ticking boxes, even if it’s just a virtual one. But I’m aware of its limitations, these goals can give you just an illusion of progress, and also don’t take into consideration that creative work sometimes can’t be easily put into fixed timeframes.

Summary

Setting goals helps me bring order into chaos. Guide how to progress with a newsletter, explore new domains, but also measure improvements.

I wanted to be successful, but it’s a destination, and the journey can be defined using SMART goals. With each step focused on improving skills that contribute to my definition of being successful.

What do you take into consideration when setting your own goals?

Thanks for reading!
— Michał

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Post Notes

Goal Setting for Career Growth

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