Setting SMART Health Goals

Hello everyone as we embark on the start of a new year! I know 2020 definitely was a year filled with twists and turns, but I’m sure all the lofty goals and ambitions we set out on January 1, 2020 are still relevant and applicable as we start 2021. Like many of you, I’ve always made it a point to laser my focus at the onset of each and every year on my health.

Given how last year put our health and levels of gratitude for life under the microscope, I’m making it a point to put an added emphasis on ensuring that I look after my health from all perspectives this year and onward. We’re all going to get into the best physical, mental, spiritual, etc. shapes of our lives this year by finally running that marathon and starting a consistent meditation practice.

And break! So where do we start..?

That’s how most of us begin our journeys at the start of every year towards bettering our health. Unfortunately, we fail to plan more often than not when it comes to health goals, but this year, we’ll ensure that we’re taking some age old wisdom to heart:

We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan.

Going forward, we’ll plan out our health goals by following the SMART goals methodology.

What are SMART goals?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely been one to have set lofty goals a time or two in life only to be left disappointed. Doesn’t that feeling suck?

When I looked back upon my goals, I quickly realized how vague and undefined they were; I was setting myself up for disappointment every single time. How could I finally avoid this trap?

That’s where the SMART goals methodology came into the picture. SMART is a mnemonic acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

By keeping this methodology in mind, you’ll be able to set more clear, precise goals that are set out for success with the proper roadmap from the get-go.

How to Use SMART

Now that we’ve explored the acronym SMART, let’s see how to put it into action:

1. Specific

   Your goal should be clear and precise so that your mind and body will feel motivated and focused to achieve it. In order to help you craft as specific a goal as possible, I find the four of the five “W” questions to be instrumental:

   • Why is this important to me?

   • Who does this involve?

   • What do I want to accomplish?

   • Where does this happen?

2. Measurable

   The major pitfall in goal setting is that we often don’t track our progress at all or to the extent that we should. To stay focused and motivated on the goal at hand, it’s important to assess and measure your progress by asking questions like:

   • How many _____________?

   • How often _____________?

   • When will I know _____________?

3. Achievable

   I know.. I want to feel limitless and unconstrained to anything just like you. However, it’s important that we look at our goals and ensure that they are achievable, all while still stretching the limits of our abilities. Some questions to keep in mind to check in with yourself to see if your goal is achievable include:

   • How will I accomplish this goal?

   • Based on constraints (e.g. physical or financial), can I accomplish this goal?

4. Relevant

   Aligning your goals to your own life system and personal values will only serve to fortify the sense of purpose and motivation behind initially setting out your goals. A relevant goal can affirmatively answer the following questions:

   • Is this worthwhile?

   • Is this the right time?

   • Does this match my needs?

5. Time-Bound

   All goals need to have a target date in order to help keep yourself accountable. Coupling this with the measurable criteria, you’ll be able to prevent distractions from clouding your judgment in pursuit of your long-term goals. Some common questions to assess the time-bound criteria include:

   • When will I accomplish this goal?

   • What can I do today?

   • What can I accomplish on a weekly/monthly basis?

Incorporating SMART with Health Goals

Let’s bring this all together with your health goals for this year! We’re already off to a great start by implicitly looking to accomplish the goals within the year! We’ll take the guiding questions to help us understand how to apply the SMART goal setting method to our health goals:

1. Specific

   We all want to eat healthy, but what does that even mean? Aiming for a specific healthy eating goal, such as eating two servings of fruits and veggies every day or drinking one liter of water per day, puts greater focus on your health goals and initiatives.

2. Measurable

   Honestly, I find being able to measure new health goals to be the most exciting aspect of the entire SMART framework. Make your goals those that you can measure, such as walking five days a week or gaining one to two pounds of muscle in a month. Tracking your progress and seeing and, more importantly, feeling the results is amazing!

3. Achievable

   Put things into perspective and consider your abilities and constraints to ensure you can achieve your health goals. Being able to run a marathon or squat 300+ pounds won’t be accomplished in just a week or two if you’ve never been a long-distance runner or never had previous experience lifting weights ever.

   No matter where you are in your fitness journey, strike the right balance while stretching your limits. With time, you’ll soon find your range for what’s achievable will only continue to grow and expand!

4. Relevant

   Aligning your goals to your interests and value system will only serve you better in getting after your health goals. For example, if you want to lose weight, find a type of activity you enjoy doing that inspires and motivates you to succeed. Likewise, you can reframe your health goals from saying that you want to lose weight to say that you want to have more energy to play with your kids or grandchildren.

5. Time-Bound

   It’s vital that you set a time frame for when you’d like to accomplish your health goals, but it’s even just as important to define smaller time intervals in between. Take for example if you’d like to be able to run five miles in forty minutes, averaging an eight-minute mile in three months. We can further break this goal down and say that we would like to cut down our mile time by thirty seconds every two weeks to help feed back into the overall goal!

Whether it’s eating healthier, losing weight, gaining muscle, becoming more flexible, or gaining energy, I’m sure that we can accomplish our health goals for the year by adopting, measuring, and tracking our progress by creating SMART health goals. Happy planning for your health goals this year!

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle or plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” - Pablo Picasso