Setting SMART Goals to Achieve Your Dreams

As you are getting to know yourself and becoming more self-aware, recognize what you would like to improve. Set small, achievable goals. We can’t make huge changes overnight, but taking small steps is more realistic and leads to goal achievement. Reward yourself for your small milestones.

Make your goals SMART!

S – Specific: Make your goals as detailed as possible

M – Measurable: Set how many days or times do you need to reach your goal. How do you know you reached the goal?

A – Achievable: Set, small goals so that you do not get discouraged by trying to complete a huge goal all at once. Check out the next section to see how to break down your goals.

R – Relevant: Does your goal make sense in your current circumstances?

T – Time-bound: Have a date that you are trying to reach your goal by.

Example of a goal that does not fit the SMART model: I will stop drinking soda.

Example of a SMART goal: In my first week, I will drink one can of soda a day at lunch (instead of 2) and start to drink 3 glasses of water a day. I will drink one glass of water with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In my second week, I will drink one half of a soda a day and 4 glasses of water. I will have water breakfast, snack, lunch, and dinner. In my third week, I will not drink soda and drink 6 glasses of water a day, a glass at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snack times. I plan achieve this goal by January 1, 2022.

This goal is achievable and relevant given that the person in this example is pre-diabetic and looking to reduce sugar intake. These are small and achievable goals with a set date to meet them.

Make routines enjoyable

Put all of your daily goals or tasks onto a wheel at https://wheelofnames.com/. The wheel will “choose” what you will do next, taking out some of the effort of making a choice. This is a cool and fun way to make reaching your goals more into a game.

For example, put different short exercises onto your wheel or hobbies that you would like to do for 10 minutes a day. I believe that everyone can carve out 10 minutes out of their daily life and it feels great to know that you achieved that goal and took time for yourself.