The first three months of 2011 are now behind us. Spring is in the air. And so, I have a question for you: what happened to your New Year Resolutions? And how about your objectives at work?

More than three months into the year, have you made progress with either your personal goals or your work objectives? If not, then this article is for you because it will give you a recipe for taking a fresh look at either a personal goal you have let lapse or a work objective you are not making enough headway with. It is not too late to dust off your half-forgotten New Year Resolutions or to start making real progress on a work project which has been languishing!

And if you are doing well, I suggest you still read on as this article may help you connect to the mechanics you use when setting goals, which explain why you are making steady progress. That way, achieving personal goals or work objectives will no longer be a matter of chance.

Setting Goals the SMARTEY Way

The key to achieving a goal, whether personal or work-related, is the mindset you have when you talk to yourself about this objective you are setting for yourself.

I am sure that many of you have heard of SMART goals. SMART designates a five-step method to set goals which is recommended in order to maximize your chances of success.

I work with a variation called SMARTEY. But why would you want to use the SMARTEY approach?

Well, because the SMARTEY method will focus your attention and help you mobilize your energy to not just start working on a goal but also to sustain your efforts along the way until you achieve it.

We all have experienced how hard it is to sustain our motivation during the often long time it takes for us to achieve a goal so a method which helps there is surely worth a try, would you agree?

Let me share with you the SMARTEY process:

'S' is for 'Specific'.

Let me illustrate this with an example: let's say you set as your goal: "I want to lose weight". Now how what about if you said instead: "I want to lose ten pounds between by the end of June"? What is the difference between these two sentences?

Simply put, the main difference is that, with the second sentence, you have told yourself what things will have to look like so that you can know that you are losing weight. So being 'specific' when setting a goal is about answering the question: "What does my goal look like for me?" and fleshing out what starts off as a vague discomfort (here around the current weight) or a loose aspiration into something tangible and therefore real. In that way, your goal goes from one which is shared by millions to one which belongs only to you.

When you have a specific goal, you are clear about what it is in your mind but you also feel it in your gut. A sense of capability emerges: you start to feel that you will be able to achieve your goal!

This is why I also think that 'S' stands for 'strong' because when you set a specific goal for yourself, you will most likely feel imbued with the strength to pursue it!

A last point here: When setting goals, do keep them short (another 'S'!) and to the point. Too much of a good thing, like detail, can become too much because it could muddle the waters.

'M' is for 'Measurable'.

If you have set a specific goal, you may actually already be ticking this box. Indeed, the measure of my weight loss will be that I can see that I am ten pounds lighter.

But with more complex goals, 'Measurable' means answering the question "how will I know that I'm really done?" It is close to but not similar to the question I suggested when we were at 'S'.

It makes particular sense in a work context where so-called 'metrics' or 'KPIs' (Key Performance Indicators) may be used to assess whether an objective has been reached or not, and if so, in what way. In this work context, the question to answer can become: "How do I prove to my manager that I achieved my specific objective?" If it is a personal goal, the question can be modified to: "How do I prove to my partner/friend that I have reached my goal?"

I also personally think of 'M' for 'Milestones' because you will need to develop a way to track your progress so that you are able to know that you are moving towards your goal and how well - and if you need to make any correction in your plan. Returning to the weight loss example, you may want to set yourself loss targets for the end of each month, to make sure you are making progress towards the ten pounds you want to shed.

'A' is for 'Achievable'.

When considering your goal, ask yourself whether it feels right for you, and whether you feel you have the resources and skills necessary to achieve that particular goal. In that sense, and although we are not at the letter 'R' yet, your goals also have to be realistic. Unrealistic goals are just dreams.

For example, will losing ten pounds in three months be achievable for you? Would that mean starving yourself, with the risk that the weight loss is not sustainable anyway? Or would it make more sense to lose four pounds in three months or ten pounds in six months?

My point is that if you set yourself an objective which is beyond your reasonable ability, then you are setting yourself up for either failure or pain. And unless you are masochistic, I see little that is attractive about failure or the prospect of enduring pain just to achieve a goal, no matter how important.

Thinking about whether your goal is achievable is also about contemplating what help or support you might need to enlist to increase your chances of success. If your goal is weight loss, maybe one of the trainers at your local gym can help you with an exercise regimen to burn off more calories. If your objective is work-related, are there colleagues who can contribute to your project?

Let's move to 'R' which is for 'Recorded'.

It may seem like a small thing but write your goals down. Just holding your goal in your head simply will not work. I could give you several reasons why that is but, in the interest of time, please take my word for it: there is something about the act of committing goals to paper that gets the intention out of your head and into existence in the physical world where it can happen.

So do make sure you write your own goals down. And if you are employed, it is likely that your company will have a system for logging everyone's work objectives so you will be expected to record yours. In whatever form it takes, I encourage you to effectively go on record with your goal!

A last tip: write your goals down AND keep them where you can see them often! Things will get in the way so having your goal nearby will help you manage possible distractions. Whether it's Post-It notes on the door of your fridge or around the screen of your computer at work, remind yourself!

'T' is for 'Time-Bound'.

This is another 'must do': include a completion date. Otherwise, your goal is merely an intention, a 'someday' goal that is just sitting out there in the future - like the unrealistic goal, the 'someday' goal is a dream!

I appreciate that sometimes we cannot be exactly sure of the time frame, but put in a due date anyway - you can always lengthen or shorten the timeframe once you are clearer about what is involved in achieving the goal.

Having a target date keeps you on your toes and in motion though remember that your deadline is not set in stone: it can be changed if along the way if it turns out to be unrealistic.

'E' is for 'Energized'!

My hope is that, having set your goal with the five preceding steps, you are feeling energized about starting out.

Setting goals using this simple yet powerful method can become a catalyst for action whereas being unsure about one's goals, what they look and feel like, leaves you feeling uncertain and a bit blue.

Do you see now why I suggested that 'S' might also mean 'strong'?

'Y' is for 'Yours'.

Last but not least as this is actually a core element because the degree to which you will be motivated enough to work through and achieve a goal which is not yours is likely to be low.

This is a key point when you think that many of our goals originate with others - family and friends when it comes to personal goals, but also line managers for work objectives.

Think for a minute about how different you feel when you do something - start a diet, go to the gym, cut your hair short - to please the significant other in your life. Now think again: how would you feel about doing any of the above if you were the one who had decided on it? I will by no means imply that doing something for someone important to us does not feel good. But I would suggest that it feels even better to do it for oneself. I therefore urge you to decline goals you do not own.

But at work, if might be difficult to refuse a goal so it will be helpful for you to make this goal absolutely yours, to buy into it. In that fashion, the goal becomes important to you personally. When you think of your goal as important to you, this mindset will help you stay committed to this goal, help you do the things you need to do in order to continue working on it, make progress towards it and eventually achieve it. To buy into an objective at work, it will usually be helpful if you understand the rationale for the objective and if this objective is aligned to your company's strategy.

So there it is, the SMARTEY method. I use it for myself and in my coaching practice so I and my clients get clear about our goals, both in our heads and in our guts, and feel energised about both starting to work on making our goals happen and on persevering for however long it takes us to succeed.

That energy helps all of us cope well with things which inevitably try to get in the way and to overcome obstacles along the way as there is rarely a smooth ride.

I hope the SMARTEY method will work for you too.

To your goal success!

Alexandra works with ambitious and high-performing executives in the financial services sector who want to accelerate their career to the next step.

As a Career Accelerator, Alexandra helps Directors/VPs, Executive Directors/SVPs, and MDs achieve their upward or lateral moves, obtain new assignments and succeed fast in new roles.

She loves to share stories and insights from her gratifying but eventful 23-year career in banking, from Paris to the City of London via New York's Wall Street.

Alexandra shares free career tips on her website at http://www.coachingforinspiration.com.