I’ve talked about finding your focus for setting goals, but I’ve never really talked about how to go about successfully setting a goal. I’m sure by now you’ve heard of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, but what does that really mean and what do you do when that doesn’t work? What is more, how do you motivate yourself to reach your goals?
A S.M.A.R.T. goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound. This means if your goal is to “lose weight”, that probably isn’t specific enough. A more appropriate goal would specify how much weight you are going to lose and by when, such as “lose five pounds by the end of the year by exercising three times per week and cutting out dessert”. Specific and measurable goals tend to go hand in hand; “lose five pounds”. The importance of your goal being attainable and relevant is so that you don’t give up on it. If my goal was to “lose 20 pounds by the end of the week” that would be an unrealistic and unattainable goal. And finally, time bound means give yourself a deadline to complete your goal by.
So you set S.M.A.R.T. goals but that’s it. Now you have to motivate yourself to complete the goal. I find lots of little rewards in whatever way works best for you tends to keep people motivated. Just make sure your reward isn’t working against you (don’t eat a tub of ice cream because you lost one pound). This could be something as simple as crossing a task off a list or taking a picture of progress so you can compare. I can’t tell you what little rewards will motivate you, but it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive.
Still having trouble completing your goal? Try breaking it out into smaller goals. I had the goal of “Read a book in French by the end of the year”. Well a year went by and I had barely made a dent in it. Then I broke it down further to “read a chapter of the book in French by the end of the month”. That still didn’t work. I ended up breaking out every tiny section of the book and making a note of when it had to be completed by. I’m finally about half way done with the book, but it took making my goal smaller and smaller to reach it.
Finally, I borrow this last piece from a good friend of mine: Accountabilabuddy (account-uh-bill-uh-buddy). Sometimes I just cannot seem to motivate myself to reach a goal. It feels impossible and unattainable. That’s when I call on an accountabilabuddy. This is someone in my life that I know and trust to be firm but gentle and supportive. They check in with me regularly around my goals and help me stay on track. When I am trying to work out more often and need to get up early to go to the gym, I can ask a friend to wake me up and go with me or ask them to call me in the morning every five minutes until I am up and out the door. Or when I’m trying not to eat junk food, someone to remind me that I don’t want a cookie with my meal or offer alternative snacks. I once had a co-worker help me break up with hot chocolate. Late in my pregnancy I gave in and bought a cup. As my accountabilabuddy, he saw me with the hot chocolate and helped me find someone to give it away to and made it fun and light-hearted while also ensuring that I stayed on track with my goal.
I believe goal setting is the key to success. I probably set 100 little goals every month, and I write them all down so I can have the satisfaction of crossing off the ones I have completed. Writing them down does tend to make them more real, and you can look at them as a reminder for what they are. Write down your goal for this month in the comments below and I’ll be your accountabilabuddy and check in with you!
Still having trouble reaching your goals? Contact me for Life Coaching services at FreedomInsidetheBox@gmail.com.
