For people who have experienced the so-called middle-class lifestyle, the idea of SMART goals as a part of personal growth falls in the category of common sense. But for some Getting Ahead investigators, goal setting is a relatively new concept and can be a bit confusing and complex. People who have lived in the tyranny of the moment, which reduces the time horizon for decision-making, can be challenged by the cause-and-effect choice making inherent in goal setting. We talk about the hidden rule of destiny in generational poverty as life being related to fate—life just happens and you react to it. As one Getting Ahead investigator put it, “In poverty life happens to you; in Getting Ahead, you learn that you can happen to life!”
What options are there to assist those who have less experience with goal setting to embrace and apply the SMART goal process to their lives as they work through Getting Ahead?
One strategy is to start small, sometimes very small! One investigator said, “Sometimes just taking a shower is a goal!” Introduce simple goal setting early in the Getting Ahead process. This might include intentionally having a moment at the end of every meeting for sharing: “What is one thing that you took away from today and how could you apply it this week?” Have someone keep track of investigator mini goals and check in on them the next week. This provides each investigator with a way to quickly come back and say, “I made this choice and I got this outcome.” And in the early stages, when some forget, they will still be benefitting from the experience of others in the group.
One Getting Ahead investigator had a weekly goal to straighten their kitchen and put the dishes away for one week. Setting a relatively small goal that is easily measured and monitored is practicing a way of thinking that can be applied to larger goals in the future as Getting Ahead moves toward SMART goals in the final sessions of the group.
The use of visuals can also be very useful in making the abstract ideas that are a part of goal setting more concrete. It’s very difficult to hold abstract thoughts verbally while also trying to process all the other group dynamics. Visuals become a sort of external hard drive for the mind that a person can go back to as a reminder of decisions and plans. A simple picture can help keep small goals in focus. I have used circles on the left and right side of a piece of paper with lines or steps in between them. The circles work well since they are used in the mental model activity for “What it’s like now.” In the left circle is what it’s like now (e.g., the dishes are piled up in the sink). In the right circle is the goal (e.g., by next week the dishes will be washed and put away). The steps between the circles can be the actions (e.g., do each meal’s dishes immediately after the meal so they don’t pile up; assign each child one meal to help with the dishes; at the end of each day, make sure all the dishes are put away).
When SMART goals come at the end of the Getting Ahead process, they are connected with one or more of the 11 resources. Starting with mini goals early in Getting Ahead doesn’t necessarily require that step, but if it can be done, it sets a good model for future goal setting. For example, the dishes example can clearly be connected with stress (emotional resource). A person who decides to drink less soda or smoke fewer cigarettes this week is working on the health resource.
As a final point, it is important to remember that Getting Ahead is not about the “right” results—facilitators need to resist the idea that there are better goals for people that they “should” be working on. Getting Ahead is about teaching thinking tools that graduates will be able to apply long after their Getting Ahead experience is concluded. Success at small goals is much more important than being overwhelmed by large goals, especially if those goals are directly or indirectly imposed on them by others.
