Jennifer Davidson, Reality Check Coaching, based in Portland, Oregon, offers leadership for your career & life goals

At first glance you may think I’ve changed my career focus to personal relationships. However, that is not the case. Kiss Smart, Not Hard is about becoming more efficient and focused in achieving both personal and business goals.

KISS (Defined by CIO Midmarket) and SMART (Defined by CTI) are acronyms:

KISS = Keep It Simple, Stupid 

Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it looks. In an effort to make things better or more appealing it is easy to over-complicate the goal. So, how do you stay on track? 

1. Understand the point of your goal. What is important about it? Why does it matter? Establishing clarity will help you stay transparent in your progress. It should be easy to answer the following: “Is this action contributing to my goal or taking away from it?”
2. More complication equals more time. Ask yourself, “Am I complicating things to slow down progress or to benefit the outcome?” Often times on our way to accomplishing goals we begin to create opportunities for self-sabotage. Marianne Williamson speaks directly to this concept, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Out deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Achieving goals can be scary. So, as you are working towards your goal…stop along the way and evaluate whether or not you are still on the simple path.
3. Clear out distractions. If necessary, set aside time to focus on the goal and nothing else. Reverse engineer the goal. IE - Work it backwards and then execute. 

SMART = Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Resonant, Thrilling

Many businesses use the term SMART, but CTI has added a twist to the original. Here’s how setting SMART goals can benefit you:

• Specific - Don’t flower up the point. Declare the goal in the fewest words possible. What is the bottom line? It confuses people to add extras…so keep it specific.
• Measurable - How will anyone know if the goal is accomplished? Make sure the outcomes or results will act as proof once the goal is accomplished. Plus, it feels good to know what the results will be when you have achieved the desired outcome.
• Accountable - Tell others, write it down, declare your goal! This is critical to success. Setting an accountability with others, especially with a deadline date, can help you stay pure in your efforts. If there is nothing you are working towards and no one counting on you it is much easier to get distracted or even give up. Don’t let yourself off the hook. Your goals are important so be accountable for them.
• Resonant - (Twist #1 from CTI) Does the goal resonate with you? Do you get excited, happy, feel warm & fuzzy just thinking about it? If yes, then you are on your way! When goals matter to us personally it makes working towards them easier.
• Thrilling - (Twist #2 from CTI) Goals are meant to be a stretch and a bit scary (IE: Exciting!) Goals that thrill are goals worth fighting for. You will know if it is the right goal when you don’t bother trying to flower it up because the goal itself is thrilling enough to stand alone.

Finally, don’t forget Not Hard. If you are working too hard, STOP! Follow the KISS SMART principles and it will eliminate clutter and move you back into action. This doesn’t eliminate all barriers, but it does keep us pure in our intentions. 

“The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” - The Last Lecture