SMART Goals – PART 3

This is the last week of the SMART goal series. By now, you should have a very specific and detailed goal that is easily measurable. You start with a baseline in order to monitor progress and know when you’ve reached your goal. Then your goal should be achievable in that it is something near and dear to your heart, but also not too far out of reach to be successful.  Lastly, that goal needs to be realistic. Do you have the motivation and desire and the means to attain your goal? If weight loss is your goal and you plan on hitting the gym 3X a week, can you afford a gym membership? Do you really have the time to go 3X a week and if so, which days and what time? If eating better is your goal and you typically eat out for lunch everyday, are you prepared to start making bag lunches and do you have the time to make the lunches? Essentially, when setting your goals, you want to take out ALL of the guesswork and prepare for any setbacks or road bumps along the way.

For the last part of your goal, you will need to set a Time frame. This ties back to other parts of the goal, be specific, but realistic and achievable. Set a realistic end date for achieving your goal. Equally important to this final date is to set up “monitoring” dates along the way. Using weight loss as an example again, if your goal is to lose 10 pounds in 6 months, think of setting smaller goals along that timeline like losing 2 pounds every month. This allows you to not only check in on your progress but gives you a sense of efficacy that you ARE achieving the smaller goals and getting closer to the big one. It’s also important in the event that you might need to adjust your final goal if you aren’t quite making those smaller ones in time OR if you’re way ahead of the game.

Now that your Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-Oriented (S.M.A.R.T) goals are set you’re completely prepared and ready to start. Always starting with a good baseline measurement is so important, otherwise you’re really just guessing at how successful you are or how well you’re progressing. Don’t forget to factor in some rewards along the way. They can be whatever you feel is relevant or fitting for the goal. Write these into your time line. If you hit a goal early, that can be an added reward. It’s very important to celebrate ALL your successes no matter how small you think they are. Now that you’re ready to go after that goal, tell somebody, in fact tell everybody, put it on facebook and twitter. Most people are externally motivated and if everyone knows you’re working on a specific goal it really keeps you accountable because now these people will want to support you and know how you’re doing and celebrate with you along the way. Lastly, have some sort of support system in place. This can be a good friend or two, family, or others trying to attain similar goals. There are bound to be tough days and it’s always helpful to have that cheer team in place to keep you motivated and give you the pep talks when you need it.

That’s it! You’re more than prepared to go out there and get it!