when you're setting goals Frameworks can give you a useful starting point and the most famous goal setting framework of all is smart a staple of corporate goal setting for over 30 years smart stands for specific measurable attainable realistic and time bound but perhaps it's time for a refresh essentially smart is a clever way of putting your goal into a clear sentence and that's handy in that it helps you define your goal but it doesn't necessarily help you decide if that goal is intelligent and worthwhile one of the main issues lies in the wording the terms attainable and realistic can cause people to set low unchallenging goals and what's the point of that so is there a smarter way let's unpack what smart means and see if we can make a few improvements s is for specific it encourages you to pin down a clear tangible idea of what you want to achieve leave or pinpoint an area for improvement M is for measurable all goals need a yard stick otherwise we'll never know if they're successful A is for ambitious a worthwhile goal is one that challenges you to think big and to reach outside your comfort zone R is for Relevant will this goal really be good for business does it fit with your values or wider plans what meaning does it have for you T is for time bound goals remain dreams unless you set time frames and there's nothing like a deadline to motivate action e is for emotional we feel before we think it's a scientific fact even in hard business terms goals that come from the gut will probably have more sticking power because you want them more R is for rewarding because what is a goal if not rewarding keeping your incentive all the benefits of your goal in sight will drive you on visualizing the peak of the mountain and your satisfaction on reaching it so that's smarter a useful tool for setting clear practical goals