Every year millions of people make New Year's resolutions, such as "I'm going to workout more," "I'm going to read more," "I'm going to be more adventurous," but 92% of people (45% of Americans make resolutions) let their resolutions fall by the wayside in less than three months. This could be due to a busy schedule, lack of motivation, and no accountability. A way to combat these resolution breakers is by making S.M.A.R.T. goals.
S.M.A.R.T. stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
By following a S.M.A.R.T. goal format you can make your wishful resolutions into feasible outcomes. Let's take "I'm going to workout more" for example. Fitness goals make up 38% of resolutions.
Specific:
So to start off, ask yourself how can you make your resolution specific. What do you want to get out of working out? Weight loss? Improved flexibility or stamina? Write it down.
Measurable:
Next, how will you measure your progress? How much weight do you want to lose? Do you want to be able to touch your toes or do the splits? Do you want to run a mile in a certain amount of time?
Attainable:
How do you plan to make your resolution attainable? What actions will you take to reach your goal? Additionally, how often are you going to work at your goal? Five days a week for 60 minutes a day with that Cassey Ho workout you found on a Pinterest? Those details matter.
Realistic:
Now let's be realistic, have you set a goal you can accomplish? You might find yourself struggling to get to the gym five days a weeks, so don't feel bad if you have to alter your gym time to three days just to make it attainable. The worst thing you can do for your resolution is to let it fall by the wayside because it's not realistic.
Timely:
Lastly, it timeliness. Take your resolution and ask yourself how soon do you want to accomplish your resolution? My suggestion is to give yourself more than two months because if your resolution is fitness related, you're going to need time to see results.
It's now your turn to take the S.M.A.R.T. formula and apply it to your own resolution(s). With this guide, I hope that you are able to stick with your resolution(s) and obtain your goal(s) in 2017.
