Set the Right Goals, Get Focused
Goal setting is good, but making it the right goal is great
Specific Goals
If you’ve spent any amount of time learning about goal setting, you have likely heard this before.
If a goal isn’t specific, how do you know if you reached it?
Non-specific goal: Cut back on snacking.
How do you know at the end of the day if you truly cut back on carbs?
Specific goal: No snacking after 7pm
With this goal, you know at the end of the day if you reached it or not. There is a clear line in the sand on what you said you would do.
Measurable Goals
Once you have a specific goal, you still need to be a measurable next to it. In our example above it doesn’t say how many days a work or how long you are going to not snack after 7pm.
Perhaps you want to make it a hard and fast rule and avoid all snacking every night after 7pm. If you feel like that is realistic for you (spoiler alert for the next point!) then go for it.
For most, it’s better to look at what they are doing now to determine what is realistic. If someone is struggling with evening snacking every night, it may be a challenge to set that goal to three nights a week. Still a great improvement from snacking every night. It’s strengthening their ability to say no nearly half the time.
Specific and measurable goal: No snacking after 7pm, 3 nights a week
Realistic Goals
Yes, I basically covered this but this section is the largest difference maker in if the goal will be reached or not.
You can write specific and measurable goals all day long but are they really a good fit for you right now?
Look at where you are today and set goals with the next step in mind…not with the end in mind. You build a house brick by brick and being where you “think you should be” isn’t truly helpful in laying out your bricks. Be honest with where you are today, what you have coming up in your schedule, and what you feel truly is the next brick. You can always add the next layer after the cement dries on the first one.
Speaking specifically of the Get Focused Challenges I run three times a year for members, I can say the difference in who finished the challenge is who set the right goal for the right time. I ask members to set goals with week FOUR in mind instead of just week one. Excitement does wonders for everyone in the first week, but as in all things the excitement fizzles.
It’s like running at a pace that’s really too fast for you. Will you finish that run if you started too fast? Maybe. What if you run at a pace that fits your body best? I don’t run much but that sounds like a more enjoyable experience to me!