SMART Goals
It’s well known that successful people set goals for themselves. Many people float aimlessly through life just going through the motions. Having concrete goals gives us validity and intention to our actions and in the big picture sense, a better quality of life. It’s comparable to keeping your eye on the prize. Often, we can get bogged down by the minutia of daily chores and activities that we forget what we want and may become stagnant. The next few weeks of this Health section I will be offering a series on how to set SMART goals.
Simply having a goal is not enough. There is an art to goal setting and without it you may be finding yourself falling short of the finish line. Setting goals is one of the very first things I work on with my clients when I start training them. Understanding how to set your goal could be the difference between success and failure. I’m talking about more than just stating (or for many internally hoping/wishing) for weight loss, a promotion, or being more present with your kids. To set yourself up for victory you need to spend a little time and effort up front to plan it out. This is why I will be spreading this out over a few weeks.
Right now write down, tell Siri or make a mental note for later, of the goal you are setting. Think big or small, anything you’ve wanted to work on or work out. It does not necessarily have to be fitness related. Once you’ve done this, take a hard look at that goal and decide if it’s Specific. For example, if you wrote down “lose weight”, how MUCH weight are we talking about? If you wrote, “eat better”, WHAT does that mean? Essentially, you need to be clear and concise with your goal so you KNOW when you’ve succeeded. Do you want to lose a dress size or 5 pounds? Does eating better mean portion sizes or counting calories or following a precise diet? Go back to your original goal and follow the – who, what, where, when, why and how cues. The more detailed the goal, the more thought out it is and the better chance you’ll have of following it through to completion.
The last exercise for this week is to work on the Measurable part of your goal. This is the part where you determine the numbers such as: how much (weight, time, money etc); how many (calories, promotions, etc); how often (do I go to the gym, weigh myself, travel). This again refers to the “knowing when you’ve succeeded”. If weight loss is a goal, and you’ve specified that you want to lose one dress size, how long are you giving yourself to achieve that? Indefinitely waiting to accomplish something can be a real drag and is a great way to lose your discipline and enthusiasm. You need to know that you’re progressing (or regressing) in order to stay on track.
For this first session of goal setting, your homework is to take one of your goals and pick it apart. Make it as specific as you can; the more detail the better. Ambiguous goals leave themselves open to interpretation and ultimately are easy to give up. Determine your measurements as they pertain to your goal. This is vital in letting you know at any time how you’re progressing (or not). It keeps you on track and lets you know if you need to modify your original goal or not. We will get to that part next week.
