Attaining Goals
January 7th, 2009
Attaining Goals:
A fellow blogger and twitter friend (not sure fellow is the right phrase for a woman, maybe fellowet, LOL) posted a quick note about donedieting.com today which in combination with a name like Goalgirl led me to read her blog. We have all figured out by now I’m all about goals so I really like the resources presented on her site. (http://thatgoalgirl.com/blog/ twitter.com/goalgirl)
One of the things I found interesting on her blog today was the acronym SMART. I’ve seen and used the phrase SMART goals many times but have never really blogged about what SMART goals are and what it means to set them
The acronym SMART has a number of slightly different variations. In the description of what each letter in SMART means, I’ve ordered them in what I believe is the most important.
S – Significant, specific, stretching
- Significant leads for “S” because it is about the height of the goal. If you don’t set the goals high enough to have significant impact on your life then your aiming way to low.
- Specific comes in at a close second because we require the details to plan our goal and make it clear. If I where to tell you my goal for next year is to make more money, what would that truly mean. If I made 50,000 last year then 50,000.01 is more money, right. Not a significant goal.
- Stretching is very important. If I know for sure I can lose 50lbs this year without a doubt, then am I really doing my self justice by setting that as my goal. Set your goals high enough that it stretches your abilities, your creativity and your imagination. Now a word of caution. There is a fine line between setting goals that stretch and setting goals that we just won’t commit to.
M – Meaningful, motivational, measurable
- Meaningful made the top of “M’s” list because it’s your “WHY” trust a man who knows from experience, there are going to be times where you will be thinking “why am I doing this again”. Your “why” had better be strong enough to keep you moving in the correct direction.
- Motivational is more than just it motivates you. Motivational goals can and should motivate the people around you. Keeping yourself motivated is a key but you’d be amazed on how motivating your friends and family can be when they see your hard work and determination.
- Measurable is key to fostering our since of accomplishment. If a goal is not measurable; who do we know when we got there? How do we know when we are off track? How can we plan to achieve our goal?
A – Attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented, agreed upon
- Attainable / achievable: This is without question the reality check of goal setting. If I where to ask a four year old what their goal was for this year I’d likely get the answer “what”. After explaining what a goal is the answer would be something like I’m going to learn to fly. “I’d say, in a plane?” no like a super hero. Now I don’t like to discourage anybody, but make sure that it is fairly possible to hit your goal.
A good test if a goal is attainable is the ability to start planning its success in your head. Example “If I workout real hard, watch what I eat, and lose about 2 lbs / week I could loose over 100 lbs this year.”
- Acceptable: This is can mean many of things, but in my mind, this is talking about subconsciously. You have to be able to believe in your goals with your mind, heart and soul. Setting a goal of gaining weight when I’m morbidly obese would have been subconsciously unacceptable to me.
- Action-oriented: I believe that this is referring to cause and effect. (Read my post on this.) A goal shouldn’t be an effect. A goal should be something you can act upon. If you can’t put an action plan together on steps to achieve a goal then you should think about rewording or refining the goal.
- Agreed upon: This comes into play when your goals affect others around you or require their assistance. Getting the spouse to agree on your weight loss diet is a key to success.
R – Realistic, reasonable, rewarding
- Realistic: within your availability of resources, knowledge and time.
- Reasonable: If it goes against reason you’re going to be fighting your subconscious.
- Rewarding: The reward whether mental, financial, physical or all three must be worth the effort.
T – time-based, trackable
- Time-based: This means that you have to give your self a date that the goal will be complete. Give your self enough time to complete the goal, but not so much time that you don’t feel motivated to perform at you max.
- Trackable: The ability to know where you are in the progress of achieving a goal is a key motivator and tool for planning
I wanted to respond to your twitters, but I have a hard enough time keeping papers down to 3 pages — twitter gives me hives when I need to be brief!
I have a personal trainer at the gym and for me I can’t see doing it with out her. She helps me set realistic goals, she checks my form to make sure I’m not going to injure myself – and she has helped me with strength building exercises and core stability/strength as well.
When I do strength training I do 15 minutes of cardio before – and then 15 minutes of cardio after. I eat a lot of food and I eat frequently, making sure I leave carbs alone 4 hours before bedtime (or there abouts). When I do not do weight training I let myself go crazy with cardio — keeping in mind that sometimes my body stops being efficient if I push it too much or stay in the 90 percent of my heart rate for too long. I usually jump off of the machine and do a few sets of abs or pushups or planks – then jump back on the machine and do a few more minutes of cardio until I get 45 minutes to an hour in.
A while ago I remember you twittered about nutrition. I really believe that several things are needed to maintain optimal health including but not limited to these things: strength/resistance, core/stretching, cardio, proper nutrition, and at least 7 hours of sleep. I’m continually amazed when people try to lose weight without strength training or with out a nutrition evaluation or plan.
Keep up the good work! Eat a little bit more (if you are cutting down) and that might shake things up a little bit. I also agree with salt – processed meats, cheese, nuts, soups, processed ‘tv’ dinner type meals, etc. usually do me in for sure. Be gentle to yourself and resilient and the pounds will start dropping off once again. (You may also want to do a fat analysis at a gym or take measurements…sometimes you don’t lose any weight for a bit but continue to lose inches!)