Setting Attainable Goals!

This week’s Love Your Heart, Love Yourself Challenge is to set your goals for achieving the Life, Happiness or Health you want! 

Perhaps you want to lose a certain amount of weight, or teach people how to treat you, apply for a new job, lower your blood pressure or cholesterol.  Whatever it is, define it and be specific and know why you want to achieve the goal, as well.

Goals have many different levels. First create your "big picture" goal. Second, you break this down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit so that you reach your “Big Picture” goal. Finally, once you have your plan, you start working to achieve it.

The SMART METHOD for achieving goals.

I encourage you each to write down the goals you want to reach. Evaluate your goals and make changes as necessary to fit the SMART Goals Criteria.

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely

Specific

Specific is the What, Why, and How of the SMART method.

WHAT are you going to do? WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish? HOW are you going to do it?

 

Be sure the goals you set are very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to lose weight or be healthier, set a specific goal to lose 10pounds or to walk 2 miles at a moderate pace.

Measurable

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Be specific! "I want to lose 10 pounds by

May 15, 2008

" is a specific target to be measured. "I want to lose weight this year” or I want to be healthier" is not as measurable.  With measurement you are able to celebrate your achievements!

Attainable

Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably won't commit to doing. Although you may start with the best of intentions, the knowledge that it's too much for you means subconsciously you will always be reminded of this fact and it will stop you from even giving it your best.

If you aim to lose 25lbs in one week, we all know that isn't achievable. But setting a goal to loose 1-2lbs per week is attainable and when you've achieved that goal the first week you’ll celebrate and then aiming to lose another 1-2lbs, will keep it achievable for you.

Realistic

Come up with a plan which makes the goal realistic. The goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment. A goal of never again eating sweets, chips or chocolate may not be realistic for you.  However, a more realistic goal would be to eat a piece of fruit each day instead of one sweet item. You can then choose to work towards reducing the amount of sweets you eat gradually.

Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren't very capable.

Timely

Set a timeframe for the goal!     If you don't set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there's no urgency to start taking action now.  Remember to keep your time commitment measurable, attainable and realistic!

A Glimpse at one of My Goals:  My BIG Goal is to lose 120lbs.  That was much too much for me to think about.  So I broke it down to 60lbs by the end of 2007.  I further broke it down to 1-2lbs per week.  How would I achieve this by portion control and walking 30 minutes 3x per week.  Along the way, I changed my goal to walking 4 days a week and giving up white flour, white sugar, high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.  Although, I went cold turkey (cleaned out the fridge and cabinets), I’m not a fanatic about it.  When we are out I enjoy the foods that are available in very small quantities (I’ll have a few bites from a piece of cake or something like that). I’ve learned to bake some tasty treats using whole wheat pastry flour and agave or stevia(natural sweeteners, low glycemic) for sweeteners.    I’m more than halfway to my BIG GOAL!  I’ve got more in here too…such as being able to jump double-dutch effortlessly by my 40^th Birthday, which is in December 2008

I'd love to hear what your goals are! Feel free to share here or email me. I'll be sure to post some challenges that you might find helpful!

Comments

[Karen]

Thanks Tiare for the challenge this week. I learned about SMART goal setting many years ago and it DOES work. I have set a goal to lose 25 lbs this year. I need to lose more, but once I attain this goal, I can add to it. My goals are also to read 30 books, make 25 cards and complete 40 pages for my scrapbook.

[Tena E.]

Great tips Tiara, I like the "SMART" method to attaining goals. I have set a goal to lose 45lbs this year & to use my gym membership 3 times a week, so far I'm on track. It's not easy, but I know I'm worth it. TFS!

[Michelle]

Tira,
I was just searching,and find this link. I was realeased from the hospital Wed. I forgot to ask them how much I wieghted? I still have to do that. I like the idea of "SMART" method. since I don't know how much I weight it would be hard for me to set a goal, but going by a wight in a few weeks ago I guess I would like to loose 40pds this year. I wanted to loose it by my 10yr.anniversary which is in June 6th, I may be able to loose something by then, if I get serious. Since getting isck I haven't been able to get to the gym but that is a goal as soon as I am released to start back to work and other activities I should know Monday when I speak to the nurse. But I just wanted to stop by and leave a note.
Thanks Tiara