SMART Stretch

I enjoy going to the library.  There, I’ve said it.  I imagine a few high school and college friends out there reacting in disbelief.  That’s fair.  I didn’t spend much time in school libraries.  In fact, I don’t recall using my college library card until senior year, but I do enjoy going to the library.  What I like best is looking over the new arrivals.  Titles, subjects, authors – eventually something will peak my interest and I have a new book to explore when I get home.

A few weeks back the book that caught my attention was Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.  No spoiler alert here and not a review, just a topic the book discussed – SMART goals.  If you are not familiar with the term SMART goal, here’s the Wikipedia take:

The November 1981 issue of Management Review contained a paper by George T. Doran called “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”.  It discussed the importance of objectives and the difficulty of setting them.

Ideally speaking, each corporate, department, and section objective should be:

• Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
• Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
• Assignable – specify who will do it.
• Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
• Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved

SMART goals, so the concept goes, help us form a concrete plan of action in order to make the stretch goal a reality.  “Stretch” goal?  Think big picture.  Think dream.  Think Vision Zero.

We posted our petition for Vision Zero Florida last week and it bears repeating.  The Florida Bicycle Association, in our desire to be inclusive and recognizing the need for unity, is asking all road users (motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and transit users) to join us as we request our policy makers to adopt “Vision Zero Florida” to raise awareness and complement the current “Driving Down Fatalities” campaign of our own Florida Department of Transportation.  The annual loss of life on our roads is 2500, far too many names of fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters to list here.  If you believe anything is possible, sign the petition and make Vision Zero Florida one name closer to reality.

It starts with a dream, a stretch goal if you will, and follows with doing.  Doing the SMART goals set by your community to change infrastructure and/or  adopt Complete Streets policy.  Or perhaps a SMART goal set by yourself to practice CPR – Courtesy, Patience, Respect – when driving, bicycling or walking.  Anything is possible!  Be SMART!