SMART Goals!
Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us on the Center Street Psychology Blog! For those new here, feel free to check out our previous posts on attachment styles, communication tools, and difficult conversations. In our latest article, we focused on selecting a word to guide us in the New Year. Today, we will be providing insights on effectively establishing personal goals.
Often, when making New Year's resolutions, we tend to set goals that will significantly impact our lives. These can encompass personal well-being, relationships, careers, or any area where a change is desired. However, it can be challenging to assess our progress if we don't set goals that are measurable for success. So, how can we transform a general goal like "I want to exercise more this year to lose weight" into a more effective one? Introducing SMART goals! SMART is an acronym to keep in mind when setting personal objectives:
S - Specific: Clearly define your goal to understand what you aim to achieve.
M - Measurable: Ensure your goal is quantifiable and identify how you will measure your progress.
A - Achievable: Set goals that are realistically attainable, avoiding the temptation to dismiss them as too challenging.
R - Relevant: Align your goals with your personal values, beliefs, and long-term plans.
T - Time-bound: Establish a specific timeline for your goals to track your progress and hold yourself accountable.
Now, how can we apply SMART goals to our initial general goal of "I want to exercise more this year to lose weight"?
S: I will use the treadmill three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays for one hour.
M: I will weigh myself once per week on Mondays as well as track my overall mood using my journal.
A: I would like to lose one pound a week and not skip any days of exercising.
R: Losing weight and exercising more will help my mood by increasing my self-confidence and creating a sense of accomplishment.
T: In eight weeks, I will look at how much weight I’ve lost, what my mood is like, and how well I’ve adhered to the schedule I set myself.
And the goal statement becomes: “For the next eight weeks, I will spend one hour on the treadmill on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. I will track my adherence to this schedule and my mood using my bullet journal, and once a week on Mondays I will weigh myself.”
SMART goals are a great tool for keeping us accountable to ourselves while ensuring we’re able to identify our successes.
Please reach out to us at Center Street Psychology, as we provide uniquely tailored therapeutic plans and interventions to support you and collaborate on your personal goals. We are an inclusive clinic, located in Calgary, Alberta that provides in-person and virtual psychological services across Canada in the evenings and weekends. Please text or call 403-399-5120 to talk to our Director of Client Care, Amy, who will guide you through the intake process.
Written by: Lindsay Mcnena
