Ambitious goals are valuable. Impossible goals are demoralizing. The sweet spot is a goal that stretches you just enough to require real effort while remaining within reach given your current skills, resources, and circumstances.
To assess whether your goal is achievable, ask yourself:
- Is this realistic given where I am right now?
- Do I have the knowledge and skills to achieve this, and if not, how will I acquire them?
- What obstacles am I likely to face, and how will I address them?
- Who can support me in reaching this goal?
A few practical habits that help make goals more attainable: start with smaller steps and build momentum, track your progress regularly so you can see how far you’ve come, and stay flexible enough to adjust your approach if something isn’t working. Changing your plan isn’t giving up, it’s problem-solving.
Make Your Goal Relevant
A goal that doesn’t connect to what you actually want from your career is unlikely to sustain your motivation over time. Relevance is what separates goals that matter from goals you forget about by February.
To check whether your goal is truly relevant to you, ask:
- How does this goal connect to my larger vision for my career?
- Why is this important to me right now?
- Will achieving this improve my quality of life or help me reach a bigger personal or professional milestone?
- Is this genuinely something I want, or something I think I should want?
That last question is worth sitting with. Goals that belong to someone else, whether that’s a parent’s expectation, an industry norm, or a comparison to another performer, rarely produce lasting motivation. The most powerful goals are the ones rooted in your own values and vision.
Make Your Goal Time-Bound
A goal without a deadline is just a daydream. Adding a specific timeframe creates urgency, gives you a benchmark to work toward, and helps you prioritize your time and energy.
Tips for making your goal time-bound:
- Set a specific deadline that is realistic but demanding enough to keep you moving.
- Break the goal into smaller tasks with their own mini-deadlines along the way.
- Create a schedule that maps out what needs to happen and when.
- Track your progress against your timeline and adjust as needed.
- Celebrate milestones as you hit them. Acknowledging progress keeps motivation high.
Questions to work through as you set your timeline:
- What is my deadline for achieving this goal?
- What are the key milestones between now and that deadline?
- What potential obstacles could slow me down, and how will I handle them?
- How will I hold myself accountable to this timeline?
Aligning Your Goal with Your Values
Before finalizing any goal, it’s worth taking a moment to check that it genuinely aligns with who you are and what you want your life to look like. Ask yourself:
- Does this goal fit into my broader vision for my life and career?
- Is it in line with what’s truly important to me?
- When I imagine achieving this goal, does it feel exciting and right, or does it feel like an obligation?
- If I could have this goal right now, would I take it without hesitation?
- Who else might be affected by this goal, and have I thought through those implications?
If a goal consistently feels like a burden rather than a motivator, that’s worth examining. It may need to be reshaped, or it may not be the right goal for this season of your career.
Identifying Obstacles Before They Derail You
One of the most valuable things you can do during goal-setting is to anticipate obstacles before they appear. Ask yourself:
- Do I have full control over the actions needed to achieve this goal?
- What aspects of my current situation might I need to change or give up to make this happen?
- What is the cost of pursuing this goal, and am I genuinely willing to pay it?
- What is good about my current situation that I want to protect even as I pursue this change?
- Is there anything I haven’t yet addressed that could either help or hinder my progress?
Being honest about these questions upfront saves you from being blindsided later. The goal isn’t to talk yourself out of ambition. It’s to go in clear-eyed and prepared.
Writing Your SMART Goal
Once you’ve worked through each element, bring it all together into a single, concise sentence. A well-written SMART goal sounds something like:
“I will book eight paid private event performances in the next three months by submitting weekly pitches to event planning companies in my area and following up within 48 hours of each submission.”
That one sentence is specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound. It tells you exactly what success looks like and exactly what you need to do to get there.
Talent opens doors. Goals determine where those doors lead. The performers who treat their careers as intentional, strategic pursuits, rather than waiting for the right break to find them, are the ones who build lasting, sustainable work. Start with one goal, make it SMART, and build from there.