Setting SMART Goals

You may find yourself once again inspired to improve your eating habits, exercise more regularly, reduce your caffeine intake, or pursue other positive lifestyle changes that you have long considered. Perhaps you have made similar attempts in the past, possibly as part of your New Year’s resolutions, only to struggle with maintaining those commitments and achieving lasting success.

Behavior Change

Here are five tips from the American Psychological Association (APA) that will assist you in making lasting, positive lifestyle and behavior changes:

Make a plan that will stick

Your plan is a map that will guide you on this journey of change. You can even think of it as an adventure. When making your plan, be specific. Want to exercise more? Detail the time of day when you can take walks and how long you will walk. Write everything down, and ask yourself if you are confident that these activities and goals are realistic for you. If not, start with smaller steps. Post your plan where you will most often see it as a reminder.

Start small

After you’ve identified realistic short-term and long-term goals, break down your goals into small, manageable steps that are specifically defined and can be measured. Is your long-term goal to lose 20 pounds within the next five months? A good weekly goal would be to lose one pound a week. If you would like to eat healthier, consider as a goal for the week replacing dessert with a healthier option, like fruit or yogurt. At the end of the week, you will feel successful knowing you met your goal.

Change one behavior at a time

Unhealthy behaviors develop over the course of time, so replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones requires time. Many people run into problems when they try to change too much too fast. To improve your success, focus on one goal or change at a time. As new healthy behaviors become a habit, try to add another goal that works toward the overall change you are striving for.

Involve a buddy

Whether it be a friend, co-worker or family member, someone else on your journey will keep you motivated and accountable. Perhaps it can be someone who will go to the gym with you or someone who is also trying to stop smoking. Talk about what you are doing. Consider joining a support group. Having someone with whom to share your struggles and successes makes the work easier and the mission less intimidating.

Ask for Support

Accepting help from those who care about you and will listen strengthens your resilience and commitment. If you feel overwhelmed or unable to meet your goals on your own, consider seeking help from a psychologist. Psychologists are uniquely trained to understand the connection between the mind and body, as well as the factors that promote behavior change. Asking for help does not mean a lifetime of therapy; even just a few sessions can help you examine and set attainable goals or address the emotional issues that may be getting in your way.

Setting SMART Goals

Last time you said to yourself that you need to “eat healthier” or “exercise more” to improve your overall health? How well did that work for you? In most cases, probably not very well. That’s because these statements are too vague and do not give  direction for what truly needs to be done to achieve such goals. To have a better chance at being successful, try using the SMART acronym for setting your goals (S= Specific, M= Measurable, A=Attainable, R= Realistic, T= Time-oriented):

• Specific – Create a goal that has a focused and clear path for what you actually need to do. Examples:
  • I will drink 8 ounces of water 3 times per day
  • I will walk briskly for 30 minutes, 5 times per week
  • I will reduce my soda intake to no more than 2 cans of soda per week

• Measurable – This enables you to track your progress, and ties in with the “specific” component. The above examples all have actual numbers associated with the behavior change that let you know whether or not it has been met.
• Attainable – Make sure that your goal is within your capabilities and not too far out of reach. For example, if you have not been physically active for a number of years, it would be highly unlikely that you would be able to achieve a goal of running a marathon within the next month.
• Realistic – Try to ensure that your goal is something you will be able to continue doing and incorporate as part of your regular routine/lifestyle. For example, if you made a goal to kayak 2 times each week, but don’t have the financial resources to purchase or rent the equipment, no way to transport it, or are not close enough to a body of water in which to partake in kayaking, then this is not going to be feasible.
• Time-oriented – Give yourself a target date or deadline in which the goal needs to be met. This will keep you on track and motivated to reach the goal, while also evaluating your progress. If you meet your goal within this timeline, you can set your next goal to continue progress. If you are not able to meet your goal in the timeframe you set, take the opportunity to reevaluate your original goal and make adjustments for success in your next goal.