Five SMART Steps to Successfully Achieving Your Goals
As the New Year begins, many people are struck with a desire to make changes for the better. Typically, those changes involve exercise, weight loss, nutrition and other areas of self-improvement. Goodness knows, I have spent many a January killing myself with cardio and depriving myself of food. As I have grown in experience, I can see now why I have frequently failed over the long term. I set too lofty of goals which always left me feeling deprived and frustrated. After the initial “honeymoon” phase of maximal motivation and excitement, I would give up because it was too difficult. Does this sound familiar?
Personally, I love the feel of a new year and all its possibilities. There is nothing wrong with using the fresh start to set new intentions to make positive changes in your life. The problem comes when we change too much, too quickly and haven’t set ourselves up for success. This results in “falling off the wagon” and “quitting” which can leave us feeling like a failure and may make us less inclined to try again.
Rather than walking through this same vicious cycle of setting enormous goals which are doomed for failure, instead, let’s set ourselves up for success. Keep reading to learn how to create a goal which is SMART and sustainable for the long-term.
SMART goals include the characteristics to the left. When your goal meets each of these criteria, it has a higher likelihood of success.
Specific
A specific goal is one that is focused. Avoid ambiguous goals like “I want to exercise more” or “I want to eat better”. Define what will be accomplished and the actions needed to achieve the goal. Being specific means thinking through your goal and setting some structure around it.
If you would like to exercise more, think about what kind of exercise you will do and when and where you will do it. Do you have a gym at home? Will you go to classes, an outside gym or work with a personal trainer? The more specific you can make your goal, the easier it will be to complete.
When setting nutrition related goals, it is very important to be specific or they can fall to the wayside. If wanting to decrease sugar intake, first think about when and where this is the biggest issue. Is it the 2 pm snack time where you find yourself searching for a candy bar? Maybe your goal involves bringing nutritionally dense snacks from home to have in the afternoon to satisfy the cravings. If dessert after dinner is where you find the sugar calling your name, your specific goal may involve consuming at least 25 g of protein and 2 cups of vegetables at the dinner meal to promote better satiety.
If you are unsure of the best method to achieve your specific nutrition or exercise goals, consider scheduling a free 30-minute call with us to discuss how we can help you.
Measurable
Measurable means you can quantify if the goal was met. How will you track if the goal was successfully reached? For instance, the goal of eating more vegetables or exercising more often is not measurable. Instead, creating the goal of eating 5 cups of vegetables each day or exercising for 30-minutes, 3 days per week is measurable.
At the end of the week, keep a journal and note if you met the goal or not. If possible, physically schedule days and times you will complete the task. Don’t leave room to push it out to the last minute at end of the week. Set yourself up for success!
Achievable
An achievable goal is one which is realistic within your life over the long term. Many new year’s resolutions do not meet this specification. Most are overly lofty with the goal of changing everything all at once. These changes may be achievable for a short period but not sustainable for the long term.
In order to make the lofty goals more achievable, break them “bite-size” ones and take them one at a time. Work on consistency with these small changes prior to moving on to the next change. This is a more sustainable process and more likely to lead to a successful long-term habit.
For example, the goal to lose 40# over the next month by exercising 6 days per week, restricting calories to 1200/day and avoiding all processed foods is likely not achievable for the long term. A more achievable goal might be to lose 5# or at most 10# over the next month by increasing exercise to at least 30-minutes, 3 days per week and avoiding snacking after dinner.
Even better would be to avoid the “weight loss” goal all together and instead add positive changes rather than always “avoiding”, “restricting” or “limiting”. Add in more whole, real foods. Add in more activity and movement during the day. Add in 5 minutes of journaling or meditation in the morning and/or evening. This positive mindset change can work wonders on decreasing the stress of negativity.
The support of a friend or family member can make a goal more achievable. Even just telling someone else of your goal and plan to achieve it can make the goal more likely to succeed. You may find you inspire someone else to make positive changes. Ask a friend to meal plan together or be a workout buddy!
Relevant
A relevant goal means it is something that is important to you. When setting a goal, sit down and write down your “Why’s”. Why does meeting this goal matter to you? Avoid “going along for the ride” and making changes just because someone else is. You will be less likely to take it seriously and commit to the process.
Maybe your why’s include health concerns like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. They might include quality of life like wanting to have more energy, strength, or endurance. Things that are important to you may be completely different than someone else so think through how your goal is relevant and important in your life.
Time-Bound
Time-bound indicates the goal has an evaluation date. This does not mean you stop the positive change once you reach the date; it is just a time to evaluate how it’s going. Have you been consistent and persistent with the change and now it is becoming more of a habit? Or has it been a struggle? Maybe more time is needed or the goals needs to be modified.
If you began with a larger goal and broke it down into steps, and were successful with the first part, this might be the point to move onto step 2. For example, if the larger goal is improving gut health. The initial goal may have been getting in 5 servings of vegetables every day for 8 weeks which you successfully completed. The next step might be consuming at least 1 serving of a probiotic containing food each day for the following 8 weeks.
There is no set magical number or time frame required to form a long-lasting habit but is related to consistency and persistence. It does take time to ingrain a habit into routine making it more effortless to complete. A task you complete daily may become more habitual in a shorter period of time compared to one which you only do once per week. Consistency is the key.
Flexibility is very important with behavior change. Give yourself some grace. Life happens and plans/schedules change. That’s ok. Focus on the process, not the end result. In other words, avoid struggling through each day with the new change just waiting until you can be done. Look to the horizon and make changes that will provide you with life-long benefit rather than a quick fix. Even if you didn’t get to it today, tomorrow is a new day. Happy New Year!!
Create your own SMART goal by clicking here for a FREE worksheet.
Here are some examples of SMART goals:
I will meditate for 5 minutes each morning, right after I wake up, starting tomorrow morning for the next 4 weeks.
I will go to the gym 3 times per week for 30-minutes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings before work for the next 6 weeks.
Instead of picking up a donut for breakfast each morning, I will make breakfast at home at least 3 days per week for the next 8 weeks.
Comment below with your SMART goal!