It’s difficult to acknowledge when career goals have moved into the realm of impossibility. Sometimes we set the bar too high, or expect to reach it too fast. It’s not a reflection of our abilities; rather, it’s healthy ambition that can be refined to create achievable goals.

A lack of confidence and appropriate training can be limiting factors in reaching objectives. Fortunately, these factors can be addressed constructively.

A popular goal-setting strategy used in different industries is the SMART method, in which objectives are described as Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

Here’s how it works:

SMART Goals and their Role in Your Success

As a legal professional, you’ll likely juggle several goals at once. Some will be achieved over the long-term, while short-term goals are more immediately gratifying. Defining all of these goals clearly will help you achieve them.

The SMART goal method will help you to identify the right career goals, no matter how experienced you are.

Specific

The goal you set should answer the five “W” questions:

• Who is involved?
• What do you want to accomplish?
• Where do you want to achieve it?
• When do you want it?
• Why do you want this goal?

For example, you’re a law practitioner who wants a promotion. That’s a decent goal, but it’s not specific.

Instead, it should sound something like this:

“I wish to obtain a partner position in my current law firm within the next five years, so I can bring in more clients.”

Measurable

Your goal should always have a clear metric; otherwise, you won’t be able to tell whether you have made progress or not. Regular performance conversations can tell you how well you are doing.

For example, you might have identified specific skills that need to be improved, such as legal analysis, negotiation, or communication. Working with a manager, or even independently, you can build a portfolio for each skill to demonstrate how you’ve worked to address it.

Achievable

The goal you set should be within your remit. It’s easy to wish to become the next big partner of your law firm, but is there actually a chance to get there? We’ll stick to the senior position example from above.

Some questions to determine whether you can achieve this are:

• Do I have the required skills, resources, and capabilities to get a partner position in my law firm?
• Is there someone who has done it? How did they do it?
• How many have failed? Why did they fail?

Realistic

A realistic goal is one that you can achieve with the resources you have.

In your pursuit of a partner position, think about your current skill set and the benefits you bring to the law firm, and compare them to the skill set and benefits a partner should bring.

This can help you identify what you are missing:

• Should I be more productive?
• Am I cooperative enough?
• Do I need to bring in more clients?

Timely

Your goal should have a clear lifespan, alongside a staggered timeline, that will help you work on all the prerequisites of achieving the end goal.

Your partner position goal will be long-term – it usually takes 6 to 8 years to get there. To maintain momentum, define a timeline of smaller goals that will help you get there.

Within a year, you might want to be better at negotiations. Within two years, you will improve your legal analysis. You’ll grow your network and form strong connections with clients, representing your law firm in the best light.

As you improve these skills and attributes, you’ll start bringing in more clients, and so generate more revenue, leading ultimately to you landing that partner position.

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