Why SMART Goals Aren’t Smart: Writing Goals that Matter

Time for the Learning Rebels annual Coffee Chat: Why SMART Goals Aren’t Smart!

Every year at this coffee chat, we talk about how L&D professionals can be better partners, better designers, and stronger advocates for their businesses and learners. For the next few chats, we’re flipping the focus. We’re concentrating on YOU and helping you move the needle on your own goals. Starting with setting your BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS!

Most of us enter the new year thinking about what we want to change. But here’s the problem: only 10% of people follow through on their New Year’s resolutions beyond a few months. That’s not a motivation problem. It’s a framing problem. To help you get a jump start, download your copy of the BHAG worksheet.

Think about how we typically set goals:

“I need to stop procrastinating.” “I have to lose weight.” “I must get organized.” “I should communicate better.”

Notice the pattern? These are all framed in terms of what we’re doing wrong. We’re setting ourselves up to feel like failures before we even start.

It’s Time to Flip the Script

What if we created positive and purposeful intentions instead?

Instead of “I must lose weight,” try “Spend 5 minutes a day stretching.” Instead of “get organized,” try “keep the area around my keyboard tidy.”

Small, positive actions we can actually sustain.

Why SMART Goals Don’t Work

SMART goals are gospel in most organizations, but they don’t deliver results. A large-scale study published in 2020 found that people who used SMART goals had less success with their resolutions than those who didn’t.

The problem? “Achievable” and “Realistic” don’t push us to take action—they encourage us to play it safe and stick with the status quo.

Let’s Build Something Better

We’ll discuss how to create goals that are actionable, positive, and actually have a shot at success. Whether you’re working on personal development or helping your learners set meaningful objectives, this conversation will give you practical strategies.

👉 Register now to join us. 

Can’t Make It In Person? No Worries, We’ve Got Your Back! Register And Receive The Following:

✅ Access to the Learning Rebels resource page with all the extra goodies

✅ Copy of the video recording

✅ Copy of the chatbox transcription

✅ Copy of the full session transcript & summary

✅ Additional resources such as books, articles, and handouts