It is March, time for Challenge Number Three in our 12 Months of Fitness: SMART goals.
People often set lofty, general goals such as “I want to lose weight” or “I want to be in better health”, especially this time of year. By setting goals, you take the opportunity to sort through what is important to you and focus on what matters most. Unfortunately, these goals often fall short because there is no specific plan to make them happen.
So what is the best way to achieve an objective? Be SMART! Smart goals can be just that, intelligent and clever, but in this case, "SMART” defines the steps to take to be successful:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Reasonable
T – Timed
This functional little formula was designed by Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He encourages goal-setting to achieve your full potential and help you on stay on target.
Start by creating 2 to 3 SMART goals. Be sure you feel confident that you can achieve them but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.
Example Using SMART
Goal: Lose 50 pounds in 7 months
· Specific: Lose 1.6 pounds each week till loss of 50 pounds in 7 months
· Mesaurable: Weigh in weekly
· Attainable: Yes, reasonable weight and can weight in weekly
· Reasonable: Two pounds a week might be difficult - more reasonable for a 1.6 lbs per week
· Timed: Weekly weight loss with an end goal of 7 months.
Analysis – Losing 50 pounds in 6 months equals a loss of 8.3 pounds per month, or an average of just over 1.93 pounds per week. A 50 pound weight loss in 7 months equals 7.14 pounds a month, or about 1.6 pounds a week
Off to Challenge #3 go set some SMART goals!
