If you've made it to 2022 and don't yet know what SMART goals are I'd like to know what rock you've been sheltered under
The concept of a SMART goal started in the business world as a method to effectively communicate various business objectives and get employees on a set projected path with clear benchmarks and timelines to measure success by. Business objectives don’t usually follow the same path, and subsequent risk of attrition, that health and wellness goals do. So we’ve sat down and tweaked the SMART formula to make it SMARTER. Making SMARTER goals can help take your goal setting to the next level and give you the individualized tools you need to maximize your personal potential.
What does SMARTER really mean?
- Specific – What will be accomplished? What actions are you taking?
- Measurable – What data, tool or metric will measure the goal?
- Achievable – In what ways will this goal challenge you?
- Relevant – Does this goal align with my broader objective? Why is this result important?
- Time-Bound – What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal
- Evaluate – Regularly review your progress along the way
- Reinforce – Turn your failures into feedback
Scale your goals to meet your objectives
Before you sit down to start detailing out your goals you need to have an objective in mind, if you’re struggling with what direction you want to head in or what passion you want to pursue check out our previous post on maximizing your potential.
Once you have an objective in mind it’s time to start thinking about the steps you would need to take to get to that goal. Some questions to ask yourself through the rest of this goal-setting process:
- How many goals is too many?
- Are you turning your objective into a task list?
- How big is too big?
- Are you trying to bake a flaky croissant with an Easy Bake Oven?
- Your goals should be high level enough that they push you towards your overall objective but specific and clear enough that success (or failure) can be measured.
Writing Goals
Your goals are intended to focus your attention and resources on what’s most important to achieving your objectives.
Common types of goals
- Increase something
- Make something
- Improve something
- Reduce something
- Save something
- Develop yourself
Step One: Actually write it down
The Psychology of Writing Down Goals By Rebecca Temsen
How to be specific:
Some words that are not “specific”: improve, increase, more, less, etc. These words imply the direction but don’t do a lot to explain the certain actions you need to accomplish change.
“I want to be faster”
“I want to lift heavier”
“I want to have a better work-life balance”
These are all great directions to head but if you want to achieve those objectives you need to get specific.
- What are the key features of this goal?
- Who needs to be involved in this process and what will it take for you to get them involved?
- How will this goal challenge you and force you to grow?
How to measure your goal:
Your measurement is a direct or indirect indicator of what success for a particular goal will look like.
Not all goals will have a clear measurement item, but the discussion about the desired end result, why it’s important to your objective, and the options of measurement (what success might look like) are valuable components of the planning process.
Measurement can be both quantitative (I want to run a certain number of miles or log a certain number of workouts) and qualitative (I want to establish with a regular running group).
Is your goal achievable?
This is arguably one of the most important components of the goal-setting process and where we will deviate significantly from the standard SMART/business oriented format.
In traditional SMART goal setting it’s important to set goals that can be achieved in the timeline set ahead, it helps maximize productivity. Our goal isn’t to maximize productivity, it’s to maximize your potential. So we want to know, is this goal easily achievable? Or is this goal going to push you outside of your comfort zone?
Impossible goals are just as un-motivating as easily achievable tasks so we need to strike an effective balance.
What new skills will you have to learn or tools will you have to acquire to get closer to achieving these goals? Write it out in detail and really hone in on what aspects of your life you personally want to find growth in during this process.
Does your goal fit in with your broader objective?
Write. It. Out.
What is the timeline for your goal?
Reinforcing the idea of attainability, this is where we set a reasonable but challenging timeline for you to work towards. For most health and lifestyle goals it takes on average 2 months to build a habit, but can often take upwards of 8. Depending on the scale of the habit you are trying to make or break, scale your goals accordingly!
Evaluate your progress:
If you’re setting goals that last longer than half a year then it can be important, if not essential, to set checkpoint goals along the way. If you’re not setting longer-term goals then are you really challenging yourself in a meaningful way?
For instance, if you want to be able to run a marathon by the end of the year then a reasonable midway goal is to be able to run a half marathon by June. By the time June comes around you’ll have a great idea whether you’re on pace to achieve your goals or not. It will help you stay motivated to stay the course, get back on track, or re-assess the depth and breadth of your goals and see where your lifestyle may need to change to accommodate your growth.
Reinforce your growth:
When you set out to achieve something, there are only two possible outcomes. You succeed, or you fail. Failure does not and should not define you, in fact, the only way to not fail is to not try at all. Failure is an essential part of any good story and real growth.
When you’re faced with failure you can
- Give up
- Keep doing the same thing
- Get feedback, seek help, and try again
By choosing to learn and grow from your failures you give yourself so much more room for growth in all facets of your life
"Dumb" Goals
I will be healthier in 2022
SMARTER Goals
Finding motivation to exercise has always been a challenge for me so I will find a fitness facility where I can exercise at least two times per week in a group setting and gain a group of people who I regularly work out with to keep me motivated and accountable for building long term healthy habits.
By the end of February I will have worked out at least twice in at least 3 different facilities and will have signed up for a membership at one of them
There are dozens of drop in facilities in town making it easily accessible for me to find and try group fitness facilities and find a good fit for me.
Because each of these facilities have a # of classes per month price option it will help encourage me to use my classes and get in at least 2 times a week to work out.
In 6 months I will have established a workout schedule and routine with a system of accountability and workout partners that can help hold each other accountable and motivated to achieve my goal of better health in 2022
I want to be a more competitive rower
A more efficient 5k row is an excellent benchmark of my sport performance and athletic endurance.
My current 5k time is 17:31, I want to have a sub-17 byt the time summer season starts in May. To achieve this goal I will lose 10lbs, spend 25% of my training hours a week every week working speed drills, will participate in weekly open rows at least 3 times per month, and will connect with a coach by the end of January to assess my form for possible improvement.
By March (midway) I will have lost 5lbs, improved my time by at least 15 seconds and refined my form drills per the recommendation and feedback from my coach.
Is your head spinning yet?
Even if you are an analytical thinker you may be sitting here even more overwhelmed than before we started. Don’t worry! As we’ve mentioned before, your journey to maximizing your potential only has to start with a single step. We’re confident once you start laying out your goals in front of you and really thinking about how to get there you’ll find they’re more in reach than you had previously thought.