Y is for year Plan
Before you have your End of Year appraisal you should have a clear idea in your head of what you want your personal goals to be (and an idea of what your company focussed goals will be and how they can tie into your own personal goals). Of course, if you are in the right job – there should be an element of overlap between these goals.I find it helpful to dedicate a free-writing journal entry to each, before extracting S.M.A.R.T objectives.
You may already have an overarching 5-year plan (you may not). However, as part of the appraisal process you should have a think (in advance) of what you want your goals and objectives to be for the upcoming year (and how you might achieve (and excel) in them). For your goals write a set of action points to go with them.
The year plan should then include your goals and how you are going to achieve them. For the purposes of your appraisal you will be ensuring that your goals align to what you boss whats, ask for any support (and funding) that you need to achieve these goals and drilling down to extract the right S.M.A.R.T objectives.