Goal Setting Strategy Better Than SMART Goals?

Antony C.
3 min readFeb 7, 2021

Getting from SMART to FAST Goals setting.

The conventional wisdom is to set SMART Goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. This is the golden standard of goal setting unchanged for decades.

Super successful people set goals using the SMART Goals system.

But in this ever-changing environment, SMART goals setting is conventionally done once a year. More importantly, seldom do we ask this fundamental question,

“Does it still work?”

Donald Sull of MIT suggests that SMART Goals are outdated, and not as efficient in turning strategy into results.

“When SMART Goals are not so smart, we should use FAST Goals instead.”

Fast Goals Chart

What are FAST Goals?

FAST Goals is one of the best alternatives to SMART Goals. Integrated into your personnel life, or organization’s objective setting.

FAST Goals setting is the natural evolution for a rapidly changing environment.

FAST is the acronym for — Frequent discussion, Ambitious, Specific, and Transparent.

This goal-setting methodology emphasizes the alignment with strategic priorities between parties when pursuing the goal.

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Antony C.

Book Author of "Start Small, Dream Big", Online Educator, Personal Finance and Personal Self-Development Enthusiasts. Making a Positive Change a Step at a Time