New Years has recently passed and many of us have set resolutions or goals we want to accomplish in 2023. For many of us, as great and important as these goals may be, we might find it difficult to stick to and achieve them. Many times we might find it difficult to start working towards our goals, or if we start, we might stop shortly after beginning. Although there are several factors that may contribute to our difficulties in achieving our new goals, one common one is that these goals are often too large or too vague. One strategy we can use to help us toward reaching our goals is by setting “SMART” goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound. These components work together to help to keep us motivated as we start and progress toward our goals.

Specific: To begin our work towards a new goal, it is important to have that goal clearly defined. A specific goal helps us to stay focused and develop a plan of action. Although goals such as “I want to be healthier” or “I want to save money” are great, they do not give us a direction to go in and can be interpreted in different ways.

Measurable: Being able to track our goals, including measuring the progress we have made, is crucial to remain motivated and engaged in our goals. It also lets us know when we have achieved our goals! If our goal is to lose weight, how much weight do we want to lose? If our goal is to save money, how much money do we want to save?

Attainable (or Achievable): Although it might seem like a simple question, is it possible to achieve our goal? Setting a goal that is too large or extreme, such as “I want to lose 50 pounds this month” can set ourselves up for failure and significantly reduce our motivation to work towards our goals.

Realistic: Similar in many ways to Attainable, is our goal realistic? One example of this is if our goals are perhaps too large or impossible. Setting a goal of “I want to become an astronaut this year” is admirable, but takes years of study and preparation. However, it is possible that our goals are attainable, but not realistic. A goal of “I want to save 50,000 dollars this year” might technically be possible and achievable, but is it likely that you will reach it when accounting for your income and expenses? It may be up to us to determine for ourselves if our goal is realistic,and if not, maybe create a smaller goal that is.

Timebound: It is helpful to give ourselves a timeframe for our goals. It helps us to not only track our goals and create a sense of urgency to increase our motivation, but also helps to make them achievable and specific. “I want to exercise for 30 minutes every day this week” seems like a much less daunting task than exercising every day for 30 minutes for the rest of your life!

Developing SMART goals is one strategy we can use to increase our motivation and help us achieve our goals. “I want to lose 20 pounds in the next three months” gives us a better direction to move in compared to “I want to lose weight” and “I want to save 50 dollars every week for the next three months” provides us with something much more concrete and measurable than “I want to save money”. However, it’s also okay to adjust our goals! We can adjust our goals how we see fit and if something originally seemed like it was realistic, or was enough time when we first thought about it, adjusting our goals can help to keep us motivated and keep us progressing in the right direction.

For further support in developing S.M.A.R.T. goals that work for you, click here.