Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor • February 2020 • Page 18

FEATURE term goal. You probably have some goals of what you want to accomplish, but it’s important to take the time to clearly define them, write them down, and use them like a roadmap to get you to your destination. Do you have a plan for what steps need to be done to accomplish the goal? For most people the answer is no. First off, for goals to be effective, a “SMART” or even more effective “SMARTER” format is the best way to lay out your roadmap for success. S -Specific. We need to be very specific about our goal. I often see a goal of “I want to be the best hockey player, business person, chiropractor that I can be.” And although com-mendable, it is not specific. Now a goal of “I want to see X number of patients per week” is a specific goal. By being specific, we give ourselves a focused target. M -Measurable. The goal needs to be measurable. Without the ability to measure it, you have no way to know if you have achieved it. The goal of “I want to increase the number of patients I see in a week” compared to “I want to see X number of patients per week”. A -Achievable. Your goal needs to be something that you can achieve. To have a goal of seeing 50 patients a week in you first month of practice is probably a goal that is not achievable. If you set a goal that is too far out of reach, you can lose your desire to follow it through. Goals that are not achievable actually become demoti-vating. R -Reach. For those of you who have learned goal setting before, you may be familiar with the R being re-alistic. I much prefer the word Reach. Goals that are worth striving for should be motivating and require extra effort for you to achieve them. T -Timed. This is the step that most people leave out. Without having a time constraint, there is no focus and motivation to push forward. “I want to be seeing an average of 50 patients per week by the end of Sep-tember, 2020”. This is a Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Reach, & Timed goal. E -Evaluate. Evaluate your pro-gress along the way. This is very 18 Canadian Chiropractor February 2020 www.canadianchiropractor.ca © jozefmicic / Adobe Stock “It’s important to take the time to define [your goals], write them down and use them like a roadmap to get to your destination.”