Forget SMART Goals and Be NICE Instead
January is the time for new goals and resolutions. How are you doing so far?
You may have heard of SMART goals, that is, SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-Bound. If you follow Michael Hyatt, you may have also heard of SMARTER goals which is another acronym for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Risky, Time-bound, Exciting, and Relevant.
But I’m here to share with you a new way of thinking about goals: NICE goals (hat tip to Ali Abdul and his new book Feel Good Productivity for this structure).
NICE stands for Near-term, Input-based, Controllable and Energizing. And I hope you will see how much more powerful it can be to help you achieve your goals.
Near-term
Goals have an interesting problem: they are only achieved when you reach the end of the goal (or maybe you get to the end and you don’t achieve the goal). Hypothetically, let’s say your goal was to run a marathon in 2024. You are in a state of failure up until you run a marathon (and therefore achieve your goal).
Another problem with goals is that anything significant requires time and effort and while having say a 5-year goal helps you focus your…
