Goals are designed to help you find the next steps to accomplish something. However, setting goals without intention can inhibit your progress. One way to ensure your goals are purposeful is to set SMART goals.
SMART stands for
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time bound
Specific
When setting a goal, you want it to be as specific as possible. Do you want to lose weight? How much? Do you want to improve your mile time? What is the exact time you wish to reach? Taking a big lofty goal and putting specifics around it will ground it for you and make it real.
There is also the importance of the why. If you want to lower your A1C for instance, why? To live longer, to enjoy time with your children, or to reduce symptoms of diabetic neuropathy? Being clear about your “why” will help you stay dedicated to achieving the goal.
Measurable
Being able to measure a goal is vital in knowing whether you have completed it or not. If you have a goal like “be healthier”, how do you know when you are healthier? Having a goal like “go on a mile walk every day” is a measurable goal. You can check off each day whether you went on that walk. Setting a goal with a calculatable number, like “lose 1.5% body fat” is even better
Attainable
The next part of SMART goals is the most abstract and personal. When setting a goal, you must ask yourself if you can attain said goal. Setting a goal to “lose 10% body fat to be able to feel better” is specific and measurable, but is it realistic? For many of us, probably not.
Relevant
Let’s say your overarching goal is to improve your flexibility. A goal that you could set that involves muscle health is being able to do the splits, but is that truly relevant to your journey, and your life? Will that allow you to prevent injury? For most people, it’s a no. Your goals should guide you to a bigger purpose and not just be set because it can be.
Time Bound
Arguably the most important part of SMART is the T which stands for time bound. This is the deadline for when you are to complete this goal. Don’t know how to figure out when you should have it done by? Think about what is realistic for the time frame to get each step done. Still don’t know. Throw out a random time. If you don’t finish in that time, guess what? You just learned a lot about how long it takes to complete that goal! Let’s start all over again and reset the goal.
Now that you know how to make SMART goals, keep us posted! We love to hear how you are doing!
