SMART Goals
Written By: Danielle Gymorie Cert. Personal Trainer at Prescription Fitness
SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely - are a great strategy to use for setting goals you wish to accomplish. If you're currently working towards a fitness goal, a SMART goal may be a great way to stay focused and help you achieve your goal. When creating a SMART goal, here are a few things to think about.
Specific
Is your goal clear, simple, and specific to what you are willing to put your efforts into? Saying you want to "get fit" is not a clear goal. A clear and specific goal would be "I want to lose body fat" or "I want to gain muscle." The more specific the goal, the better your results will be.
Measurable
Are you able to track the progress of your work? By tracking your progress, I mean how are you going to measure your success to determine if you are accomplishing your goal? Take losing weight for instance, this is pretty easy to measure. You want to lose X amount of pounds. Maybe you want to lose X number of inches from your waist. You can use a measuring tape, or have someone measure for you. These are clear and trackable goals.
Attainable
Is your goal realistic, or have you set it too high? (Start simple!) So now you have your specific goal and your means of tracking, but is it achievable? If you are planning on tracking your weight for instance, is the amount you intend to lose in the time you have set not only manageable, but healthy? It's great to have aspiring goals, but make sure they are safe.
Realistic
Is your goal applicable to you? Is it important to you? Is this a change you want to make yourself, or does someone else think you should make it? You must be motivated by your own desires to do well and be able to achieve your goal. If you're doing it because someone else wants you to, think again and come up with a goal that YOU want to achieve.
Timely
Set an end date for your goal. You will be more likely to accomplish a goal if you set a time frame for yourself. With weight loss, saying you want to lose 12 pounds in 12 weeks is a timely yet safe goal. Setting SMART goals is not the only way to accomplish what you want, but it is a great way to start and is an effective way to stick to your plan and reach the end result!
If you would like help or more information about realistic goal setting, please feel free to contact the Prescription Fitness team at 440-552-6729 or
info@prescription-fitness.com.
|