You need to create SMART goals that won’t just become a list of things you want to have done by last week. In the past, I remember reading books about setting SMART goals and rolling my eyes, thinking this won’t work. It does work though. Creating specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely goals is your roadmap. I didn’t create the SMART goal system, but a man named Paul Meyer did.
How To Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
S - A goal should be Specific. If it’s vague, you’ll never know exactly what you need to accomplish to mark a goal as done. One of my goals this year, was to workout every single day for just a minimum of 30 mins.
M - Your goal should have a Measurable way to track your progress. For example, your goal may be to write a book. In order to do that, you’d set a daily word-count goal (like 500 or 1,000 words a day) so you can track it. That makes it a measurable goal.
A - It’s also important for your goal to be Actionable, which means that you’ll always know what you need to do next to finish your project/goal. Something which helps me is to write the goal and then listing out each step that will need to be done in order to call this project done. Having things to do, makes your goal actionable. With each task you accomplish on that list, you are one step closer to being done with that goal.
R - Make sure your goal is Relevant. Since my health is important to me, my husband and I did the Whole30 plan. It’s not a diet but a 30 day challenge to figure out how certain foods affect your body. This plan was relevant to where we were at that time in our lives.
T - All your goals should be Timely. When I’m writing my books, I need to have an approximate future date of publication so I can work backwards and estimate the time I need for each action step. Now you’ll have a timely step-by-step plan to accomplish your goal.
When goal setting make sure you go over the S.M.A.R.T. five-step system. You’ll be a lot less likely to feel like a failure if you keep your goals specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely.
For Your Fitness Goals
When it comes to setting and tracking fitness and health goals I love taking before and after pictures of myself to see my progress (I also weigh and measure myself). You can do this once a week or once a month. This might be triggering for some, and if it is, I recommend not taking pictures, weighing yourself, or measuring yourself as often. I definitely recommend consulting your doctor, if this is a problem.
• Before Picture - You might not be too enthused to take your before shot. I promise once you do, you’ll be thankful you did. You’ll be in awe of the differences you see. Take pictures from all sides, but be mindful of the angles. (I get a picture from the front, from both sides, and from the back.) You can do this by setting your phone on a tripod. Set the timer on the photo app and you’re ready to go.
• Take pictures of your workouts. Take screenshots from your workout apps and a sweaty picture of yourself after your killer workout. This is a great way to encourage your future self. Pictures always inspire me when the going gets rough. These pictures will remind you that you are a workout queen, a fitness beast, and a capable, energetic woman who is reaching her goals one picture at a time.
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