We all have goals in all aspects in our life. Whether it be fitness, academic, personal, or business goals, we like to have something to work towards. This is great and should be encouraged. The only problem is that often times we fail at a goal and get off track. Why? Simply put, we aren’t setting the right kind of goal. Often times we hear that people want to lose weight. Great. How much? By when? We must be as specific as possible. That is why we need to make our goals SMART.

            SPECIFIC- When creating goals we need to make sure these goals are specific as possible. You want to lose weight?  Do you want to lose fat or body weight as a whole? Keeping things as specific and detailed as possible will focus your mind into achieving a goal.

            MEASURABLE- How can we know we achieved a goal if we don’t have a number with it. For example, you want to bench press more. How much? How often? Keeping a number in the back of your head not only keeps you focused on that goal but also makes it easier to plan and create a course of action.

            ATTAINABLE- We see it all the time. People with unrealistic and unattainable goals. Goals achieved no matter how small they are, are still achieved. If someone says they want to lose 50 lbs by summer and it’s the end of May, it puts a huge amount of pressure on all parties involved with helping to achieve that goal. This pressure will stress us out and hinder your ability to achieve your goal and cause you to fall back into bad habits. Keeping that long term goal of 50 lbs lost but breaking it into smaller, more achievable goals will help in achieving that big picture goal.

            RELEVANT- Making sure your goal is relevant to your life is important. If you are an older woman, a relevant goal is to get stronger so that your bones get stronger since you have a family history of osteoporosis. An irrelevant goal is to get stronger so you can break the all-time world record squat. Keeping realistic goals should be a priority.

            TIME ORIENTED- Our final step in making SMARTer goals is to keep them time-oriented. We must have an end date to achieve this goal by. If not, we are in a perpetual state of doing whatever. Saying you want to lose 10 lbs is a common goal. If you don’t know when you want to achieve this weight loss by you basically have no deadline. This will cause you to take it easy and get off track easier. People work best with an end date in mind.

            Next time you have a goal in mind make sure to follow the SMART principle. This will make your goal more achievable. My final piece of advice is to write your goal down. Constantly being reminded of your goal will help you keep it in mind. For example, writing down your business goals on a sticky note attached to your computer at work or setting your goal weight as your phone password. With these tips we can achieve our goals and live a healthier life.

Sean is a graduate of Kutztown University with a degree in Sports Management and is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise (ACE). An accomplished competitive powerlifter and record holder in Pennsylvania, seeing the hard work that allowed him to reach his goals inspired him to help others do the same. He loves sharing his knowledge with others and helping them progress. Success to him is seeing his own clients succeed.