Turning your dreams into achievable life goals requires planning. I am a big fan of adopting the S.M.A.R.T.

principle on both goal-

setting and general planning. According to the SMART principle, your goals should fulfill the following guidelines:
1. Goals should be Specific (S), like “I want to get my first part-time job by January 2022.”
2. Goals should be Measurable (M), such as “I would measure my goal of completing three job interviews by making sure to
apply to at least ten jobs in the next three months.”
3. Goals and plans should also be Attainable (A), like “I will target entry-level part-time positions, that are open to hiring high-
school students.”
4. Goals should be Relevant (R) to your journey, such as “I will develop workplace skills, earn some money, and get a head start
on my future career.”
5. Finally, goals should be Timely (T), such as “I will achieve my goal by January 2022.”
Some tips!
I recommend breaking down your long-term goal into many small steps (short-term goals) that you can achieve within three to six
months. Anything longer than that is typically not sustainable. In addition, you want to set an output focus goal, like “submit two
job applications a week”; and not an input focus goal, like “spend five hours a week on job search”!

Prepare by Tyng Kam, Stride Career Success Coach, for the “Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals” workshop, September 27 th, 2021
EXERCISE
List your long-term goal here:

Now, think of small goals that you can do in the next three months that will help you to get closer to your long-term goal. List them down into
multiple short-term goals using the table below.

SHORT-TERM GOALS SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ATTAINABLE RELEVANT TIMELY

Prepare by Tyng Kam, Stride Career Success Coach, for the “Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals” workshop, September 27 th, 2021