How many times have you started working towards a goal only to end up quitting during the process?
What about feeling guilty or defeated when you were unable to meet a goal you set?
Maybe self-doubt snuck in and stole the spotlight. Maybe old habits distracted you or steered you off course. Or maybe the goal itself wasn’t right for you.
We tend to dream big.
Perhaps those big dreams could be our ticket to an exciting path in life; perhaps those big dreams could be setting us up for failure.
The problem may lie with thinking that those big dreams ARE our goals. In reality, having big dreams can set the stage, but establishing goals are the small steps to get you there.
When most people choose to embark on a challenge like actively working to change their lifestyle/diet/exercise habits/etc, the emphasis is all-too-often placed on the end result (the big dream) and not enough on the process and the small steps (goals) that it takes to get there. The most important step to take, regardless of what the desired change is, is to establish smaller goals that are SMART.
SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Time-sensitive
A specific goal is just that: specific.
Broad goals of ‘I want to lose weight’ or ‘get stronger’ or ‘look better’ leave too much room for interpretation and too little room for quantitatively evaluating progress. Without something specific to work towards, there is essentially no way to quantify how well you are doing along the way. When establishing a specific goal, think LESS of what you want the end-result to be, and more about the behaviors to get you there. In this case, instead of ‘I want to lose weight’ (which is a broad goal focused on the end-result) a more specific goal that emphasizes behavior could be ‘I want to consistently track and eat my daily macro goals’.
This brings us to the next point: measurable.
A goal that is measurable means that there is something quantifiable (a measurement tool) that you can track your progress with. This can mean tracking your daily macro intake, scale weight, body fat percentage, circumference measurements, weights being used in the gym, etc. The more objective the measurement tool, the more reliably you can monitor where you are in terms of meeting your goal.
This eliminates the guesswork and emotional bias that may come with trying to evaluate progress based on subjective measurements (like judging progress based on what you see in the mirror every day). This can also stave off those feelings of guilt or shame if you ‘fall off course’ because now you can accurately measure and compare to see what, if any, effects your misdirection had.
Think of that defeated feeling you may get if you went on a binge while trying to diet. You may think and feel, that you ruined all of your progress. But if you continue to evaluate your progress with quantitative measurements like tracking your macro intake, you may find that you are actually still in line to meet your goals.
A goal that is attainable means that it is within reach and something that you ultimately have control over.
Making a goal to lose X amount of weight (which is more of an outcome-based goal and not a behavior-based goal) is in essence NOT in your control. Whether or not your body gains or loses weight within a specified amount of time is unfortunately not up to you; but what you can control for are the behavioral factors that play a role like diet, exercise, sleep, etc. Set yourself up for success by focusing on the things you can change and have control over.
A goal should be realistic based on circumstances.
Take into account natural changes to your schedule (vacation time, job change, kids, holidays, time of year) as well as personal preferences (don’t set a goal to eat a certain food if you can’t stomach it, or to run a marathon if you have trashed knees). Own up to the fact that life happens, and things will not always fall into place the way you expected, but having a plan that allows for those changes will provide you with a chance to succeed. It’s how you respond to adversity that will be key to your success with your goal. Change is inevitable, and the ability to adapt to change is what separates the strong from the rest.
Finally, a time-sensitive goal is a must in order to put that stamp of urgency on your plan of action.
This should be a deadline that you work towards to keep you motivated and accountable. Think of a time frame that fits the goal, and preferably something short-term (weeks to months). While we may enjoy planning ahead and dreaming of what life might be like in a few years, the reality is your plan of action will fizzle out if you are not focused on a goal that is within sight.
SMART Goals
Creating SMART goals should ultimately provide an outline for how to attack your big dream. The more realistic and achievable your goal is, the more likely you will be willing to work towards it. The beauty of setting smaller SMART goals is that you provide yourself with the continual opportunity to assess and re-evaluate where you are and what adjustments, if any, need to be made. A re-evaluation should be nothing more than just taking inventory of where you currently are with your goal, what you have done up to this point, and whether or not continuing in this manner is going to get you to where you want.
Be honest with yourself about your progress and assess everything objectively: if something is not working, use this opportunity to change it up or fine-tune.
Most importantly, give yourself credit where credit is due.
Take pride in the small accomplishments and own the fact that the progress you are seeing is because of you.
It’ll make the process seem so much sweeter, and that big dream will get so much closer.