What ARE SMART goals you ask? Good question! SMART goals are goals that are:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
Specific Goals
Goals that are specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:
- What: What do I want to accomplish?
- Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
- Who: Who needs to be involved?
- Where: Identify a location.
- When: Establish a time frame.
- Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a very specific goal would say, "Hire Staci Lynn Boyer to train me 3x a week at the Golds gym at 710 W Broadway St, Bradley, IL so that I lose 15 pounds of fat in 12 weeks."
Measurable Goals
Goals should be measurable to increase succcess. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal. To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Attainable Goals
To have a chance at success your goals must be attainable.
Realistic Goals
To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
Timely Goals
Goals must have timeframes to increase the probability of success. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 15 lbs of fat, set a date. "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by June 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal, and this in itself will increase your chances of reaching your goal.
The Boyer Bite for SMART Goal Success
many people establish goals that are not attainable, realistic, measurable or defined by a time. If the "bite" is NOT definable by the SMART method it's not a bite, its A WHOLE BAG OF GROCERYS! Yikes too much to handle!
In this economy as we struggle to pay bills and put food on the table and continue to pay college tuition, and tell ourselves that we must still invest in health insurance, and life insurance and retirement funds and...and....and..... most of the time, our health and wellness of today just does not take precedence. Even beyond financial burdens the emotional ones can be just as taxing. Perhaps you are serving your country, or have a family member deployed, maybe injury or illness are causing your priorities to turn away from YOU. However, how we treat ourselves today, right now, at this very moment ...really does dictate our tomorrow.
With that said, often in this day and age fitness and nutrition can be thrust at the needy but unwilling. Unwilling, not by virtue of unwanting, but more because of unknowing. Maybe you have heard that -Insanity is; doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Have you ever seen a toddler trying to put a square peg into a round hole? Well some of us continue to do this later on in life as well! Let us focus for a moment on taking a look back, and restructuring steps. There just may be "other" basic fundamentals in your life that need to be addressed in order for you to become ready for fitness changes! You may not even know that the peg you are trying to put in the round hole is square!
I am a dual believer in goal setting and Maslow. As a motivational speaker, I have put a lot of thought into my delivery and research behind the theories that I support. Everyone is different, and some people are intrinsically motivated, yes, however most are extrinsically motivated. This is where I look to Maslow's need Hierarchy.
Maslow's need Hierarchy
As you can see in the figure - the oh so important yet basic physiological needs are the foundation of our identity. Often we will try to achieve outside of our realm of knowledge far to quickly. This is not to say this is an impossible task, however most babies learn to crawl, walk, then run, as is our concept here.
We see an illustration here of what one needs to achieve in order to reach self-actualization which in turn leads to true intrinsic motivation. This however is very hard to come by. As hard as this is to achieve there is much validity in what this theory displays. There really are basic components in our lives that must be present in order for us to move forward. Or move whole hog into our New Year's Resolutions without falter. One example of this is the need for a roof over our head, and food on our table. Companionship, sex, self-esteem all follow. Often personal motivation and drive is lacking, because the individual is at a stalemate, due to missing a very significant fundamental component, perhaps something very simple....like, a home.
As we try to focus on fitting fitness in, and getting back on track AND before we are to incredibly hard on ourselves, lets define a few key words to help us better understand our plight.
Motivation and Maslow's Theory
What is MOTIVATION?
Something that energizes, directs, and sustains behaviors.
What really is INTRINSIC MOTIVATION?
Internal desires to perform a particular task, people do certain activities because it gives them pleasure, develops a particular skill, or It's morally the right thing to do.
What is EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION?
Factors external to the individual and unrelated to the task they are performing. Examples include money, good grades, and other rewards.
Intrinsically motivated people are bound to do much better in any given activity, because they are just more willing and eager to learn new material. Their learning experience is more meaningful, and they go deeper into the subject to fully understand it. Whether that new activity is a new job, a new child, or a new exercise - all of these activities are comparable and relevant in Maslow's philosophy. Meaning, if the basic foundation has not been placed and the first four components have not been met, one cannot precede full steam ahead. If a baby jumps up to run and has never stood solidly on his own two feet...he will fall. The square peg will also never fit into that round hole.
Abraham Maslow, has concluded that before we can be intrinsically motivated we must first satisfy our more basic human needs. Here are descriptions of what Maslow meant within each of the five basic levels of human needs. (Hudson & Mclean, 2006)
- Physiological needs. We are motivated to satisfy needs that ensure our physical survival. Needs in this group include food, water, air, shelter, clothing and sex. Most people have satisfied their physiological needs allowing them to concentrate on higher level needs. For some though, physiological needs are dominant and are the biggest needs in their lives.
- Safety needs. Once physiological needs are met one can concentrate on bringing safety and security to our lives. Safety and security needs include, order, stability, routine, familiarity, control over one's life and environment, certainty and health.
- Social needs or love and belonging needs. These needs include love, affection, belonging and acceptance. People look for these needs in relationships with other people and are motivated for these needs by the love from their families.
- Esteem needs. All people have a need for stable, firmly based, usually high evaluation of themselves for self-respect or self-esteem and for the esteem of others. These needs may therefore be classified into two subsidiary sets. These are, first, the desire for strength, achievement, adequacy, mastery of competence, confidence, independence and freedom. Second, we have what we call the desire for reputation or prestige (defining it as respect from other people), status, fame, glory, dominance, importance, recognition, dignity or appreciation.
- Need for self-actualization. This level of hierarchy is concentrated on an individual being able to reach their full potential a human being. Once someone has satisfied the first four levels of needs then they have the ability to concentrate on functioning to their highest potential. But even if all these needs are satisfied, we may often still expect that a new discontent and restlessness will soon develop, unless the individual is doing what they are fitted for. Musicians must play music, artists must paint if they are to be at peace with themselves. What humans can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature.
Maslow does explain that self-actualization is difficult to achieve, even as adults. But as a society we can help ourselves, our children and each other, to satisfy our first four basic needs in order to move on to self-actualization. Intrinsic motivation will not occur until we are well fed, safe in our environment, and can love and respect each other. From there on motivation, desire, and willingness to embark on new fitness programs, nutrition plans and life goals will be far more realistic to achieve.
Finally I leave you with this thought.. "Strength is NOT defined by the absence of moments of weakness, but more in our ability to overcome those moments". First you must recognize what those moments are, take responsibility and accountability for them. Set goals to get past those bumps in the road, but only one bump at a time. Promise me, you will be proud of each bump you overcome, take a moment to bask in that triumph and continue forward, for your destiny... is your choice.
About the Author
Staci Lynn Boyer is a nationally known fitness and figure competitor, fitness model, spokesperson, motivational speaker, personal trainer and the CEO of Staci Boyer Enterprises and Motiv8n U Personal Training.