Vocations · Professional Development

A goal you can measure
by the end of the week.

Pick the kind of goal and an action, then give the number you are at, the number you want and the deadline. The page writes the goal as one sentence, checks it against the five SMART tests, shows the pace it takes and puts dated milestones on your calendar.

Write my goalWhat you get

The goal builder

The worked example is made up: a student raising an Algebra 1 quiz average from 72 to 85 percent by late January, and a second goal of saving $240 for a bike. The page builds the sentence from your words and its word banks; nothing is written by AI and nothing you enter leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentAlso for Academics · Subject ResourcesFree

What you finish with
A goal written as one sentence with an action, a starting number, a target and a deadline; a check against the five SMART tests with what to fix for any that fail; the pace per week; dated milestones on a straight path to the target; and an if-then plan for the likeliest obstacle. A goal card prints with a column to track real progress, and the milestones download as a calendar file.
Who it is for
Students setting school, reading, fitness or money goals, the parents who help them, and adults setting work and career goals.
Format
Browser tool. Works on a phone, tablet or computer; the sentence and tests update as you type. Up to twelve goals. Prints a goal card; downloads milestones to a calendar (.ics); copy the goal; export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations; also listed for Subject Resources (students and families setting school goals).
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick the kind of goal and an action verb, and say exactly what.
  2. Enter where you are now, where you want to be and the unit: percent, pages, dollars, minutes.
  3. Set the start, the deadline and how often you will measure.
  4. Write why it matters and an if-then plan for the obstacle most likely to stop you.
  5. Fix any test that says not yet, then print the card and add the milestones to your calendar.

Write my goal

How the goal is built and checked

Five tests, a pace and a straight path of milestones.

1 The paceChange+13 percent72 to 85Time74 daysNov 16 to Jan 29Per week+1.2313 ÷ (74 ÷ 7)2 Milestones every two weeksNov 3074.572 + 13 × 14 ÷ 74Dec 1476.972 + 13 × 28 ÷ 74Dec 2879.472 + 13 × 42 ÷ 743 The five testsSpecific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-boundan action, a number, a pace, a reason, a dateplus an if-then plan for the likeliest obstacle1 The paceChange+1372 to 85Time74 daysto Jan 29Per week+1.23 percent13 ÷ (74 ÷ 7)2 MilestonesNov 3074.5on the straight pathDec 1476.9on the straight path3 The five testsS M A R Taction, number, pace,reason, date
The worked example: raising a quiz average from 72 to 85 percent in 74 days is 1.23 points a week, with a milestone every two weeks.

The tests and the arithmetic

Specific: an action and at least two words of what. Measurable: a starting number, a different target and a unit. Achievable: the pace is shown and an if-then plan is written; whether the pace is realistic is your call. Relevant: a sentence on why it matters. Time-bound: a start and a later deadline. The pace is the change divided by the weeks between the dates; each milestone is the start plus the change times the share of the time gone.

Why these pieces

The SMART letters come from management writing in the early 1980s. Goal-setting research finds that specific, challenging goals with feedback on progress lead to better performance than vague ones, and studies of implementation intentions find that an if-then plan for a known obstacle makes people more likely to follow through. Measuring on a schedule is the feedback; the milestones tell you whether you are ahead of or behind the line.

Sources

  1. Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), 35–36.
  2. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717.
  3. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.
  4. Internet Engineering Task Force. RFC 5545, Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar): the calendar file format.

The worked example is made up. The page assembles your goal from your own words and its word banks; it does not use AI. Your goals stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.