How to Set Traditional SMART Goals

ClarityGoals
7 days ago
8 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

The idea of SMART goals has been around for over 40 years, and there’s a reason it won’t die:

Most people’s goals are way too vague.

“Get in shape.” “Make more money.” “Be happier.”

Nice sentiments. Terrible goals.

SMART goals exist to force you to translate that vague wish into something you can actually hit in real life.

In this article, We’ll walk through how to set SMART goals in the traditional way—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound—and show you SMART goal examples (both good and bad) so you can see the difference instantly.

What Are SMART Goals?

SMART is a simple checklist for any goal you care about:

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Relevant
T – Time-bound

If your goal fails on any one of these, you’re basically hoping, not planning.

Let’s break each one down and look at good vs. bad SMART goal examples.

S – Specific: Make the Target Unmistakable

If a goal isn’t specific, your brain doesn’t know what it’s aiming at.

“I want a better car.”

What does “better” mean? Faster? Safer? Cheaper? Bigger?

“Better” hides the real desire. Your job is to say what you actually want.

Instead, try:

“I want a car that can hold 5 passengers comfortably.”
“I want a car with all-wheel drive that handles well in snow.”
“I want a car with a total cost under $25,000 including taxes and fees.”

Same general idea (“better car”), but now you’ve defined better in a way you can actually work toward.

Bad “Specific” example (too vague):

“I want to get healthier.”

Healthier how? Lose fat? Gain muscle? Fix your sleep? Improve bloodwork?

Good SMART goal example (Specific):

“I want to lower my resting heart rate from 75 to under 65 bpm.”

Now you’re not just “getting healthier.” You’re targeting a specific marker.

Being specific doesn’t mean writing a novel. It just means using clear language that your future self can’t misinterpret.

M – Measurable: You Need a Clear “Did I Hit It or Not?”

If you can’t tell whether you’ve hit a goal, it’s not a goal. It’s a daydream.

You need either:

A binary measure → yes/no
A numerical measure → a clear number before vs. after

Binary “Yes/No” Goals

These are underrated.

“Open the LLC for my business.”

At the end of the time period, you can ask:

Did I form the LLC?
- Yes → goal achieved.
- No → goal not achieved.

Before: 0 LLCs. After: 1 LLC.That is measurable.

Numerical Goals

Numbers are even better when they apply.

For example, with ClarityGoals, we might set goals like:

“Get to 10 users in the first month.”
“Get to 100 users in the first quarter.”
“Get to 1,000 users by the end of the first full year.”

Or with lifting:

“Increase my 5-rep deadlift from 200 lbs to 220 lbs.”
“Add 10% to my squat in the next 6 months.”

Or with fitness generally:

Reduce mile time from 9:30 to 8:30.
Go from 210 lbs to 190 lbs bodyweight.

Bad “Measurable” example (not measurable):

“Improve my finances.”

You have no idea if you actually did this. You could make an extra $50 this year and technically “improve your finances” while still being broke.

Good SMART goal example (Measurable):

“Increase my emergency fund from $0 to $3,000."

Now you can’t lie to yourself. Either there’s $3,000 there or there isn’t.

A – Achievable: Big Enough to Matter, Small Enough to Be Real

This is where people swing between delusion and underperformance.

You want your goals to stretch you, not crush you.

A simple sequence of questions:

Is this achievable for humans at all? (If not, it’s fantasy.)
Has someone with similar constraints to me done something like this? (Age, time, money, responsibilities.)
Can I realistically do this in the time period I’m assigning it? (Given my actual life, not my fantasy schedule.)

Also remember: learning is part of the goal. If there’s a skill you need that you don’t yet have, that just means:

Step 1 is “learn the skill enough to move forward.”

Achievable Goal Examples

Bad “Achievable” example (not Achievable):

“Go from $0 to $1,000,000 net worth in 12 months with no skills, no capital, and no plan.”

Could someone pull this off? Maybe, in a lottery-ticket kind of way.

Is it a realistic one-year goal for you, with your current situation? Probably not.

You can still want $1M. But you’d treat it as a 10-year or 5-year goal, then pick a smaller 1-year milestone that actually makes sense.

Good SMART goal example (Achievable):

“Increase my annual income from $50,000 to $65,000 within 12 months.”

Or:

“Increase my 5-rep deadlift from 200 lbs to 240 lbs in the next 9 months.”

Those are big enough to be exciting, but not so insane that you’re setting yourself up to quit.

If you’re not sure where your line is, start slightly on the side of “extra-achievable.” Stack some early wins, then raise the bar once you’ve built some momentum.

R – Relevant: Connected to the Life You Actually Want

Relevance matters most when you zoom out.

If you already know your 10-year and 5-year direction, each smaller goal should be a step on that path—not a random side quest.

You don’t have infinite time or energy. Every goal you say “yes” to crowds out something else.

Relevant Goal Examples

Let’s say your long-term direction is:

Build a higher-income career or business.
Improve your health.
Get out of debt and build wealth.

Bad “Relevant” example (not Relevant):

“Publish weekly podcasts all year.”

Is podcasting bad? No. It’s just not necessary. If your main focus is career, health, and wealth, unless your number one skill on this earth is talking and interviewing, a podcast burns time and energy you could aim at something that actually moves the needle.

Good SMART goal example (Relevant):

“Book 3 new paying clients for my freelance service by June 30th.”
“Pay off my highest-interest credit card by December 31st.”
“Get my A1C into a normal range in the next 12 months.”

Those are directly relevant to your bigger direction.

Another angle on relevance:

If you have 20 goals, you don’t have priorities.

If you have 1–7 goals, you do.

The fewer goals you commit to, the more you’ll actually hit.

T – Time-Bound: Give the Goal a Real Deadline

“Someday” is where goals go to die.

Time-bound just means:

“By when do you need this done?”

“ASAP” is not a date. “Soon” is not a date. "Eventually" is also not a date.

In ClarityGoals, this is baked in: every goal lives in a time box—10-year, 5-year, 1-year, quarter, or month. Putting it somewhere on the timeline is unavoidable by design.

Time-Bound Goal Examples

Bad “Time-Bound” example (no deadline):

“I want to start a business.”

Cool. When? This year? When you’re 60? Once you feel ready?

Without a time boundary, you’ll just drag it forward mentally forever.

Good SMART goal example (Time-Bound):

“File the paperwork and officially launch my LLC by March 31st.”
“Sign my first paying client by June 30th.”
“Hit 190 lbs bodyweight by December 31st.”

Now your brain has a time horizon to work with. There’s a clear “by when.”

Putting It Together: Full SMART Goal Examples

Let’s combine everything into a few complete SMART goals.

Money / Career

SMART Goal Example:“Increase my annual income from $60,000 to $75,000 by December 31st next year.”

Specific: Income from $60k to $75k.
Measurable: $15k difference.
Achievable: 25% bump in a year is aggressive but realistic for many professions with the right moves.
Relevant: Directly tied to your financial goals.
Time-bound: Deadline is December 31st.

Bad version of the same idea:

“Make way more money.”

No number, no timeline, no strategy. You could make an extra $500/year and technically “hit” this… and still feel stuck.

Health / Fitness

SMART Goal Example:“Go from running 1 mile in 10:30 to running 1 mile in under 9:00 by September 30th of this year.”

Specific: 1-mile time from 10:30 to sub-9:00.
Measurable: Time on the clock.
Achievable: 90 seconds over a few months is realistic with consistent training.
Relevant: Tied to your health/fitness priorities.
Time-bound: Deadline of September 30th.

Bad version of the same idea:

“Get in better shape this year.”

What does that even mean? Walk more? Lift once? Lose 1 pound? You’ll have no idea if you actually did it.

Learning / Skills

SMART Goal Example:“Complete a beginner Python course that includes one small project by June 30th.”

Specific: Finish a specific course + build one project.
Measurable: Course completion + project exists.
Achievable: 3 hours/week is realistic for most people.
Relevant: If your long-term goals involve tech, automation, or higher-leverage work, this is directly useful.
Time-bound: June 30th deadline.

Bad version:

“Learn to code.”

Learn what? To what level? By when? For what purpose?

How to Set SMART Goals (Step by Step)

Here’s a simple way to actually do this, right now:

Step 1: Start with the Messy Version

Write down the vague goals already floating around your head:

“Make more money.”
“Get fit.”
“Move somewhere better.”
“Be more social.”

Don’t overthink this. Just get the raw material out.

(Step 1.5: cut the least important wants until you're left with a few that get you really excited)

Step 2: Run Each One Through S-M-A-R-T

For each goal, ask:

Specific: What do I actually mean by this?
Measurable: How will I know if I hit it—what number or clear “yes/no”?
Achievable: Is this realistic for me in the time window I’m thinking about?
Relevant: Does this help with the bigger life I’m trying to build, or is it just a shiny object?
Time-bound: By when?

Rewrite each goal until it checks all five boxes.

Step 3: Put Each Goal in Its Time Box

Inside ClarityGoals, that might mean:

10-Year Goals → “Reach $X net worth." "Solve societal problem Y, by making things simpler overall, rather than more complicated.”
5-Year Goals → “Hit half that net worth." "Solve that problem for my city.”
1-Year Goals → “Increase income by $15k." "Save $10k.” "Build a prototype that solves that problem for me."
Quarter Goals → “Apply to 20 higher-paying roles." "Interview for 3.” "Draft prototype product/service/software plans."
Month Goals → “Update resume & portfolio." "Apply to the first 5 roles.”

Each of those can be written as a SMART goal.

The time box (10-year, 5-year, 1-year, quarter, month) automatically covers the “T” (Time-bound).You just make sure you nail S, M, A, and R. SMAR.

Step 4: Ruthlessly Limit the Number of Active Goals

This is the part most people skip.

If you try to have:

10 SMART goals for money,
10 for health,
10 for relationships,
10 for random hobbies…

…you’ve basically guaranteed that none of them get the focus they need.

Pick the fewest goals that would still count as real progress this year and this quarter.

Say “not now” to the rest.

A good test: when you look at your list, your brain should think:

“Okay. That’s gonna be a challenge, but it’s doable.”

Not:

“Lol, yeah right.”

Where SMART Goals Fit with ClarityGoals

SMART goals are the micro-level: how you phrase each individual target.

ClarityGoals is the macro-level: how all those targets line up over:

10 years
5 years
1 year
This quarter
This month

The workflow looks like this:

Decide who and where you want to be in 5–10 years.
Use SMART goals to define concrete milestones at each time horizon.
Track those goals over time instead of letting them fade into the background.

That last part—tracking—is what most people never do.

Studies suggest:

Most people have no goals at all.
A smaller group have goals but never write them down.
An even smaller group write them down.
A tiny group actually track them over time.

As you move from “no goals” → “written goals” → “tracked goals,” your odds of success multiply.The whole point of ClarityGoals is to make that last step—tracking across long time horizons—simple and calming enough that you actually stick with it.

Final Thoughts

SMART goals are not magic. They’re just a ruthless filter:

Is this clear?
Can I measure it?
Is it realistically doable for me?
Does it actually matter for my life?
Did I give it a real deadline?

Most people never apply that filter at all. They just say “I want a better life” and then go back to scrolling, buying, and binge eating.

You don’t have to be that person.

Take the goals you already care about.

Run them through the SMART filter.

Put them in their proper time boxes—10-year, 5-year, 1-year, quarter, month.

Then track them until they’re done.

That’s the “traditional” way to set SMART goals—and it’s still one of the simplest ways to move from “someday” to “actually happened.”

Ready to change your life with ClarityGoals? Learn more about the app.