You’ve probably crafted SMART goals before – you might have even done them in your subjects or as preparation for the start of semester.
SMART goals are useful because they guide our progress and provide enough detail so we can approach our goals with confidence. Research (Chase et al, 2013) shows that SMART goals are more likely to be achieved when they’re aligned with your values.
Exploring your values
Your values are the things that you care about most. You’ll find that they’re the things that you naturally want to spend time and energy on, and the aspects of yourself and/or your friends that you think are the best things about them.
To work out what you value most, it’s worth setting aside some time to explore your values. This personal worksheet is an excellent tool for this, or do this simple activity to explore your values.
Aligning your values with your goals
Now we’re going to look at SMART goals again, but in that “R” (relevant), we’re going to make sure we’re mentioning the values that the goal aligns to. If you can’t work that out, reflect on whether that’s YOUR goal or a goal you think you should have.
SMART goal refresher
SMART goals have the following attributes:
S – Specific – instead of “improve my results at Uni”, try “get at least a 70 in Biology”
M – Measurable – use numbers or ways to show success – instead of “go for a run more often”, try “run at least 5km three times a week”
A – Achievable – think about small steps starting from where you’re already at – instead of “I will try all the vegetables at the store”, try “I will try a new vegetable each week”
R – Relevant – it aligns to your values – why do you care about it?
T – Timely – when will you do it by – is this a weekly, monthly, end of semester, end of year or 5 years from now kind of goal?
Some examples
| Not a values-aligned SMART goal | Just a SMART goal | Values-aligned SMART goal |
| I want to do better at uni | I would like to get to an average of 75 in my English subjects, and 70 in my Media subjects by the end of Semester One. | I will WORK HARD to ACHIEVE an average of 75 in my English subjects, and 70 in my Media subjects by the end of Semester One. |
| I want to spend less time on my phone | I want to make sure I spend less than two hours a day messing around on my phone. | I want to be more CONSISTENT in doing CREATIVE things, like my painting. To do that, I will spend less than two hours a day on social media on my phone. |
| I want to get better at studying for exams | I will make a study schedule at least 4 weeks before exams and stick to it. | I will demonstrate SELF-CONTROL and PREPAREDNESS by building a study schedule for my exams at least 4 weeks before exams start. I will show ACCOUNTABILITY to myself and build on my want to ACHIEVE by sticking to my schedule all the way until the last exam. |
If you’re not sure what your goals are or how to build them, check in with our Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion services who can help you identify and develop your values and goals.
Reference:
Chase, J. A., Houmanfar, R., Hayes, S. C., Ward, T. A., Vilardaga, J. P., & Follette, V. (2013). Values are not just goals: Online ACT-based values training adds to goal setting in improving undergraduate college student performance. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 2(3-4), 79-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2013.08.002