STUPID goals ©
what SMART goals miss
You might have heard about SMART goals. The letters help with effective goal-setting. Namely:
S/pecific
M/easurable
A/chievable
R/elevant
T/ime-bound
Good. Now what about … Equality? Stupid. It’s not specific, nor measurable, nor achievable, nor relevant, nor time-bound. It’s a STUPID goal. Yet, it matters.
Stupid goals are not so stupid
It might be exactly these STUPID goals that give meaning to our lives. Sense of direction. Sense of purpose. Sense of belonging. William James, a famous psychologist and philosopher, said:
“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”
One day, when we pass away, we will know that we have played our small part in a goal that is beyond our lifetimes. A goal we were striving for, building upon the efforts of those before us, hoping that those after us will follow.
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In sum, I am not proposing abandoning SMART goals; the idea I am trying to convey is that SMART goals have their limits. Limits grounded not in its method, but in its users. Humans. You and me. Lives filled solely with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals, I am afraid, can feel deeply unsatisfying and meaningless. It’s important to have SMART goals, yet it might be even more important to have STUPID goals.
What does STUPID stand for?
S/ocial- it goes beyond I, connecting to others
T/ime-less- it will outlive you
U/topistic- it will never become fully real, yet it’s the vision
P/ersonal- it speaks to you, it makes you tick
I/- well, that’s you, you are in this formula… I
D/irectional- not a precise way, but the direction
Maybe stupid goals are not so stupid, & smart goals are not so smart
Thank you for reading. Digest it well. I would be very happy to get to know what you think about this piece or what your stupid goal is. Just hit me up.
Boris Bielik
I would like to devote this piece to the great Simone Keijsers from Leiden University, whose question started this train of thought. And also to my Bruv, whose lecture slides with SMART goals (or esmart in Spanish) stayed with me long enough to connect the two.
*and the copyright is a joke, feel free to share
