Setting goals is more than writing down a few things you’d like to achieve.
It’s committing to making a change.
Committing to actually achieving something.
If you’re serious about doing the above, then keep reading for a fool proof system goal setting system.
Keep it SMART
The SMART goal setting system is the first framework to start with.
Here’s how it works.
S - Specific
Goals should be specific.
How can you achieve something when you can’t even clarify what you’re aiming for?
Specific means writing down exactly what you want to achieve.
Here’s an example.
A vague goal is “I want to lose weight”
A specific goal is “I want to lose 15lbs”
Now you have something you can quantify and aim for.
Start by asking yourself these 4 questions to ensure your goal is specific.
- What is the goal?
- What are the details of the goal?
- What do I want to accomplish with it?
- What resources will I use?
M - Measurable
Goals should be measurable, otherwise how are you supposed to know if you’ve achieved it?
Plus, what gets measured gets managed.
To ensure your goal is measurable, ask yourself “How will I know the goal has been accomplished?”
Whilst you can physically measure the vague goal of “I want to lose weight”, at which point has it been accomplished?
Are you simply happy with a 1lb weight loss? If not, when will you be happy?
The goal of “I want to lose 15lbs” is much easier to measure and know when it’s been accomplished.
As well as the question above, also ask yourself these two questions to ensure your goal is measurable.
- How will I measure my progress?
- Do I have the available tools to measure my progress?
A - Achievable
It sounds silly.
But do you have the ability to achieve this goal?
This is important because a goal should be something that you can actually accomplish.
Whilst we should all reach for the stars, you also shouldn’t set yourself up for failure from the beginning.
To ensure your goal is achievable, as yourself these questions.
- Do I have the skills required to achieve this goal?
- Do I have the necessary resources and know-how?
- Will I have access to help if/when needed?
- How will I measure my progress?
- Do I have the available tools to measure my progress?
R - Relevant
Is this goal relevant to your wants, needs and/or aspirations?
There’s not much point in setting a goal that has nothing to do with the above.
To ensure your goal is relevant, ask yourself these questions.
- Why is this goal important?
- Is this goal worth my time?
T - Time-bound
A good goal is one that is time-bound.
Without a timeframe on your goal, you’ll likely have no urgency to complete it.
It will also mean that your goal for this year can easily become a goal for next year and beyond.
Setting a time on your goal will help you to commit to achieving it.
Simply ask yourself this question.
When do I want to achieve this goal by?
A SMART Goal
Using the Framework above, we can turn our goal of losing 15lbs into this.
S – I want to lose 15lbs of fat by the end of June.
M – I will measure my success by daily weigh-ins, body measurements and progress pictures.
A – I have some of the skills required to achieve this goal but have been following this cool guy @thefitnitiative who will help me.
R – This goal is important to me as I want to feel more confident in myself. It’s definitely worth my time.
T – I have set a time frame of 6 months to achieve it.
Breaking It Down
Now we have the goal, it’s time to break it down into the steps required to achieve it.
The overall goal above is called an Outcome goal.
We’re going to break it down into process goals.
Process goals are goals that focus on the steps required to achieve the outcome.
Outcome Goal: Lose 15lbs of fat by the end of June.
Process goals:
- Walk 10k steps per day
- Have a palm sized portion of protein at each meal
- Have 200g of vegetables at each meal
- Attend the gym 3 times per week
- Sleep 8 hours each night
Etc, etc.
These process goals can and will vary between people.
For example, someone who is happy to track their calories may have something to do with that as a process goal.
Or someone who already walks 10k steps may set a process goal of walking 12k.
It really depends on the individual, but the act of breaking the outcome goal into the processes required to achieve it remains the same.
There you have it, a fool proof system to set goals.
Now go out there and start smashing it.
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