It’s January, and with the start of a new year comes that familiar sense of renewal. You might think, “This year, I’ll make a change. New year, new me!” This fresh mindset often sparks a period of reflection, where we identify areas we’d like to improve. Perhaps you’ve resolved to live a healthier lifestyle, but have you ever paused to think about where these goals come from?
Our goals are influenced by our value system. That is, we tend to act consistently to what we value and make goals to direct our intention into action. For example, living healthier might reflect your value for physical and mental well-being, energy or even appearance. But how do you turn this goal into action? That’s where SMART goals come in.
There is a SMART way to create goals to have the most effective outcome. George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham developed the idea of making SMART goals in 1981. This idea states if you make your goal specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based, it will have a better outcome potential. It’s a proven method for setting goals that stick. Let’s break it down:
• Specific: Your goals should be well-defined and clear. They should answer the questions of “What?” “Who?” “When?” “Where?” and “Which?” Although living a healthier lifestyle is a great goal, what does a healthier lifestyle even look like? Would you know what to do to achieve this healthier lifestyle? It could entail being more active, exercising more, eating fewer greasy foods and more greens, engaging in more self-care and asking questions like “How much weight do I want to lose?” If you break down these ideas even further, such as limiting fast food intake from four times to one time a week, these parts of the goal would make it more specific and more manageable.
• Measurable: How do we usually know that we are moving toward our goals? When we have a method of measurement, we can track whether we are going in the right direction. It poses the questions “How many?” and “How much?” Wanting to be more active or exercise more can be measured by the number of times you will do it during the week. For example, “This week I will work out twice,” “Next week I will go three times,” etc. Keeping track through measurement helps to give you a sense of where you currently find yourself in relation to your goal and where you are heading next. Additionally, process accomplishments make us feel good. When we complete something, we are motivated to move on to the next step.
• Attainable: Let’s be honest, change is difficult (but very doable). When deciding what that change will be, make sure you make it realistic. It should involve a moderate level of challenge, because when it is too challenging, it may discourage us from continuing to pursue it. We can’t become a marathon runner overnight, but we can run in intervals and improve our endurance over time.
• Relevant: As previously mentioned, our goals are consistent with our values. Therefore, making goals that are important to us will help in motivating us to accomplish them.
• Time-based: In regard to time, we need to set a deadline when we want to accomplish our goals. If we say we want to achieve them “sometime this year,” how much effort are we really going to put into working toward our goal? If we set a time limit, we will feel a sense of urgency to be actively working in the direction of our objective.
So, now that we understand what a SMART goal is, let’s put that into practice. In my earlier example, I discussed the goal to live a healthier lifestyle. A SMART goal would be: “In three months, I will have increased my workout routine to four times per week, I will have decreased my fast food intake to one time per week and I will eat greens at lunch and dinnertime every day.” How will your SMART goal look this year?
Although most of our resolutions are made at the beginning of the year, that does not mean we cannot add other goals throughout the year. Just make sure you make them a SMART one! If you would like to learn more about this topic or to get support with goal-setting and change, please contact Psychological Services Bureau at (213) 738-3500 to schedule a free and confidential appointment or connect with a Peer Support member. To obtain additional information, you may visit our intranet site (http://intranet/intranet/ESS/Index.htm).