“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“Set your goals high and don’t stop till you get there” – Bo Jackson
It’s new year’s resolution time and I couldn’t be any busier. Everyone has there new found fitness spirit and is ready to shed those unwanted holiday pounds.
However, when I ask these new people what they want from their fitness program, the typical response is, “I just want to get in shape” or “I just want to lose a few pounds”. While these goals are very commendable, they aren’t very SMART. SMART is an acronym that gets thrown around very frequently in the personal improvement circles but it rarely gets used in the fitness realm. SMART stands for:
S – Specific – Specific means the who, where, when, which, and why. So, instead of saying “I want to get in shape”, you would say “I want to join a gym and start working out three days per week.”
M – Measurable - Instead of saying “I want to lose weight”, you would say “I want to lose 30 pounds”.
A – Attainable - When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals. You put the proper steps in place to make sure these goals happen. This means having a car that is dependable to get you to the gym, being able to afford the membership and training, etc.
R – Realistic – The goals you set for yourself must be realistic. Losing 50 pounds might be realistic for most people over the course of the next year. Going from couch potatoe to world class bodybuilder probably isn’t. Stay grounded please!
T – Time – The goals must be time specific. If you don’t have a deadline, you won’t meet it.
So, for 2011, your goal shouldn’t be “I want to lose weight”. It should be “I want to lose 30 pounds before July 31st. I will do this joining a gym and working with a qualified trainer or on my own three times per week.” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a SMART goal.
What’s your SMART goals for 2011?
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