You have dreams, aspirations, and hopes for your future self. If that’s the case, you’ll have to achieve some goals. However, the problem with goals is that it’s easy to miss the mark unless you are SMART (pun intended) about it. Unfortunately, many people create lofty goals that are destined to fail. This is especially true with New Year’s resolutions. However, you can increase your chances of success by creating SMART goals.
What Are SMART Goals?
SMART goal-setting is a framework for creating a plan to accomplish a goal. In fact, it is an effective way to plan for any life goal, no matter how big or small. SMART goals help you lay the groundwork for achieving your goals.
So, why are they called SMART goals? SMART is an acronym:
- Specific: Your goal should be limited. For example, a goal to “lose weight“ isn’t specific. Instead, be specific, like “lose 20 lbs or 10 kg”.
- Measurable: A goal should have one or more metrics to track your progress. For example, you can use a scale to track your weight.
- Achievable: Goals have to be possible, even if they are specific. Maybe you won’t run a 4-minute mile, but you can improve your pace.
- Relevant: Goals should align with your ambitions, dreams, and values.
- Time-bound: Goals should have an end date to help you stay on track. Time-bound goals create a sense of urgency and encouragement to keep you moving forward. Otherwise, procrastination or other short-term priorities will keep pushing a goal to the bottom of your to-do list.
A SMART goal checks all these boxes. As a result, you have a starting point and path to success. This clarity may even inspire and motivate you. That’s certainly an excellent way to start.
Tips For Making SMART Goals
Goal setting can be challenging at first. Thankfully, it’s a skill you can cultivate and improve the more you do it. In fact, you can develop your own system of methods and techniques. As a result, you may achieve future goals more easily. Here are some tips to help you create your own SMART goals.
Know Your Why
Knowing your why is essential to setting yourself up for success. If your reason is that “you want to” or “you should do it”, then you need to reevaluate your intentions. You will fall short or give up if you don’t know the real reason why you’re doing something. Unfortunately, you can’t rely on your willpower or motivation to push you through because those resources are finite.
Your why is what truly matters. It aligns with your passions and values. Your why should pass the test of time and be meaningful in the long term. Even short-term SMART goals can have an impact over your lifetime.
Know Your Limits
Achievable goals are possible if they are within your current abilities and skills. If the goal is outside your skillset, you may have to learn new skills to accomplish it. If that’s the case, you can establish new SMART goals to learn the necessary skills.
However, you don’t have to accomplish all your goals by yourself. You can ask other people to help. Developing goals can be challenging. Therefore, you can talk with a friend or coach to help you set goals that work best for you. In fact, having others support you during your journey can be inspiring and help you through the rough patches.
Stay Flexible
Each goal is unique and may require different techniques or new methods. Even well-thought-out SMART goals require an open mind. Typically, you can’t account for all of the what-ifs and unknown factors that crop up as you work toward your goal.
In fact, something will likely come up that requires you to tweak your plan, or something will happen to derail your goal altogether. That’s okay. Instead of giving up, you can use these situations to redefine your goal. In fact, you can include this new information while rebuilding your SMART goal. Don’t forget that you’ve already made some progress, which means you are likely not starting over.
Set Milestones
Some SMART goals can take time, such as running a marathon. You may have a plan where you build up your mileage every week until you are running close to the marathon distance. There is a lot of commitment and running to achieve that goal. For goals that take time, it’s important to have milestones.
Let’s say you want to lose 20 lbs or 10 kg. Every time you step on the scale, you may become frustrated if your weight only moves slightly. That’s hard to process when your goal seems far away. Instead, you can help maintain your motivation by setting milestones. In this example, maybe every pound or kilogram is a milestone.
Even the most well-thought-out SMART goals can benefit from milestones. They are like stairs. Every time you step up, you’re closer to the top. This helps you feel like you’re making progress, and making progress helps keep you motivated. So celebrate every milestone because those small wins are still wins.
Track Your Progress
You can’t remember everything that you’ve done related to your goal. In fact, research shows that most adults can remember 5 to 9 items for a short period. Therefore, the information can be lost if it isn’t written somewhere relatively quickly.
Thankfully, you can remember all those details if you track your progress. You can use a notebook, journal, or app to organize everything. When you see your entire journey in one place, you can take a step back and see your progress unfold. In fact, you may see patterns emerging that allow you to adjust your SMART goals along the way.
Also, when times are hard and you feel like you’re not progressing, your journal can help you overcome that hurdle by showing you how far you’ve come. This can help reinvigorate and motivate you to keep going.
5 Examples Of SMART Goals
1. SMART Goal To Lose Weight
- Specific: I will focus on losing 10 lbs of body weight in 3 months.
- Measurable: I will track my progress by weighing myself weekly and keeping a food and fitness journal.
- Achievable: I will create a calorie deficit by consuming 500 fewer calories daily and incorporating regular exercise into my routine.
- Relevant: Losing weight is vital for my overall health and well-being and aligns with my desire to live healthier.
- Time-bound: I will achieve this goal within the next three months by consistently following my calorie deficit plan and exercise routine.
2. SMART Goal To Run a 5K
- Specific: I will complete my first 5K run.
- Measurable: I will track my progress weekly by recording my running distance and overall running time.
- Achievable: I will follow a 10-week beginner 5K training plan, gradually increasing my running distance and intensity.
- Relevant: Running a 5K aligns with my fitness goals and desire for a healthier lifestyle.
- Time-bound: I will participate in a local 5K race in 12 weeks, which gives me ten weeks to train effectively.
3. SMART Goal To Get More Sleep
- Specific: I will aim for 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- Measurable: I will track my daily sleep duration using a fitness tracker and app.
- Achievable: I will gradually adjust my bedtime routine to ensure enough time for 7-8 hours of sleep.
- Relevant: Sleeping is essential for my overall health, productivity, and well-being.
- Time-bound: I will achieve this goal within three months by gradually adjusting my bedtime routine while aiming for 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
4. SMART Goal To Reduce Stress
- Specific: I will reduce stress by implementing stress management strategies.
- Measurable: I will assess my stress levels using self-reported stress scales or journal entries to track improvements.
- Achievable: I will dedicate 20 minutes daily to relaxation techniques, such as meditation, deep breathing, or yoga.
- Relevant: Stress reduction is essential for my overall well-being and is crucial in maintaining my physical and mental health.
- Time-bound: I will consistently implement these stress reduction techniques for the next three months to see a measurable decrease in my stress levels.
5. SMART Goal To Start Exercising
- Specific: I will begin a regular exercise routine to improve my overall fitness.
- Measurable: I will track my progress by recording the number of days I exercise each week and the duration of each session.
- Achievable: I will start with 20-30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise 3 times a week and gradually increase the duration and frequency as I build stamina.
- Relevant: Regular exercise is vital for my health and well-being and aligns with my goal of leading a more active lifestyle.
- Time-bound: I will commit to this three-month exercise routine to exercise at least four times a week for 45 minutes each session.
The Takeaway
Goals are important to help achieve your dreams and how you want your future self to be. However, goals will fall short or fail without a well-thought-out plan. SMART goals are a framework to help you make your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Not only will this tailor your goals to support your dreams and aspirations, but it will also help you achieve your goals on your self-improvement journey.
FitTrend’s mission is to help you along your self-improvement journey, promote an active lifestyle, and help you achieve your goals. Our journal can help you track your workouts, weight, mood, calories, and more. Also, FitTrend allows you to connect supported gadgets to your account to make it easier for you to update your journal automatically. Create your account today and start using FitTrend for free!
Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
