SMART Goals: Where & How To Start Anything.

Prologue:

I am starting this blog in a complicated time of my life, but I think that means it is the best time to start a blog. Over the years life has gotten hectic, and I find myself with a whole lot of skills and education, with nothing much to show for it. So, I hope that this can become a place that exemplifies all my hard work and a tangible piece of evidence for all the things I have accomplished and become widely knowledgeable about.

More so, I hope that this can help someone. Anyone. Just at least ONE.

But as I said, life became complicated. As a self-noted “forever student” I am good at many things, but great at very few (at least I believe). And because I am 25 and I thought I would be married with kids, have a career I love, and money in my pockets, I have recently felt overwhelmingly defeated with the realization that in the next 2 months I turn 26. I have thousands of dollars in student loan debt, I still live with my mom, and all of the things that I find passion in, don’t seem to have much of a profitable career attached to it.

It seems as though it is time to pause for a moment and travel back to circa 2020 when I learned a valuable lesson in fitness, that has carried over into every aspect of my life: SMART Goals.

SMART Goals:

Back when I was studying for my CPT cert through NASM, I came across the term SMART goals. These goals “help establish what someone wants to accomplish and what the necessary steps are to ensure success,” (McLester, 2020). Through a health and fitness perspective, these goals are usually declared as one of three options:

1.     Outcome Goal.

2.     Process Goals.

3.     Performance Goals.

An outcome goal is a specific long-term goal that is wanted to be achieved. Process goals are smaller goals that are usually met day-to-day, in an effort to reach the outcome goal. Performance goals are milestone-like goals. These are placed between deciding the outcome goal and the time of the outcome goal to prevail. This is a measurable procedure to see if you are on track to achieving the outcome goal.

This will make more sense once I show you an example; stay tuned.

BUT FIRST, I must note that throughout my fitness journey there have been extremely hard times in my life. Heck, the only reason I started thinking about a career in health and fitness was because all my job options tanked because I graduated college in the year of COVID19.

Because of life, I have been following my fitness journey with a simultaneous “mental health” journey. In the spinoff that became battling anxiety and depression, I have also come across the SMART goal ideology in books about anxiousness and the advice from my many therapists.

So-- whether you are struggling in the gym or in the mind, SMART goals are a fantastic place to start.

Okay, okay fine. I’ll explain what it means now.

            S – Specific

            M – Measurable

            A – Achievable

            R – Relevant

            T – Time-bound

Specific: The goal should be clear and precise, NOT general. Usually has dates, times, or numbers.

Measurable: The goal should be able to be tracked or measured throughout your progress.

Achievable: The goal needs to be reasonable and can be realistically obtained within your lifestyle.

Relevant: The goal needs to be important to you and mimic your values or work toward the values and morals you wish your future self to have.

Time-bound: The goal should have a deadline. End points have been proven to be beneficial to keep motivated and keep the goal a priority.

Personally, I am going to exemplify two SMART goals below: a fitness and mental health goal tailored to my personal life. I’ll explain each of the categories so anyone reading can understand a bit better. (And, so I can refer back to this in my own life)

Fitness SMART Goal:

Outcome goal: Bench press 175 pounds by October 16, 2024.

Process goals: drink enough water, stretch, get enough rest.

Performance goals: 4th week each month, check in with my PR at the time.

  • Specific: has an official amount of weight that I want to be lifted and when I want to be able to lift it by.

  • Measurable: I will be able to note my progress by following my program and performing my PR every 4th week.

  • Achievable: I used to be able to lift this when I was seriously training, which I have been getting back into. I know I can achieve this with the proper and safe work.

  • Relevant: Powerlifitng has been my preferred way of exercise for about 7 years now and the feeling of being strong is the greatest source of serotonin for me.

  • Time-bound: I have given myself a little over 6 months to achieve this goal with a deadline of October 16th, 2024, 6 months after my 26th birthday.

Mental Health SMART Goal:

Outcome: Be able to sit by myself or meditate for 20 minutes with nothing but me, myself, and my own thoughts by October 16, 2024.

Process: Pinpoint moments throughout the day when I notice myself using distractions to cope with being alone, use breathing exercises I have been taught to deal with anxious thoughts where I would want to reach out for a negative distraction.

Performance: Every week, try meditating or sitting in the quiet for 5 minutes, increasing the amount of time and the frequency each month. Work on forgiving myself, but noting when the goal or frequency could not be accomplished.

  • Specific: I gave myself a specific amount of time that I would like to sit/meditate for and a specific date I would like for that to happen by.

  • Measurable: Although this seems like a silly task or goal for some people but I, as someone who suffers from severe anxiety, this is an extremely difficult thing to do. I know because I try to do it every day. But, being that I am able to notice that I can NOT do it right now, means that it can be measured. I know as I move forward with my mental health journey, I will be able to measure the increase of time I am able to sit alone with my thoughts.

  • Achievable: Like my fitness goal, I was able to do this at one point, but am unable to do it at the moment. So, I know that I can do it and I miss the peace it brought.

  • Relevant: I believe this is the most relevant goal I have right now in my life. I feel uncomfortable in so many different ways on the daily. This last year has come with a lot of changes and revelations. I have been unable to keep up with all of it and it has become overwhelming. I think that finding comfort in myself, in my thoughts, and in my own body and presence would only help further my success in every aspect of my future.

  • Time-Bound: I have given myself a reasonable amount of time to work through any highs and lows I may feel throughout this process to come to a comfortable spot where I can confidently and consistently practice this method of self-care.

With all that being said, I really do intend to embark on the pathway to both of these goals. Throughout this blog, I expect to lean more into personal slumps and triumphs while simultaneously using the things I have learned and continue to learn to help navigate me through this wild life. I love this bubble world of health and fitness that I live in, but I would be lying if I claimed that dedicating my life to a healthy body did not in fact take a huge toll on my mind. I believe this part of my life, my mid-20’s, is a perfect time to meld my two worlds. I do not believe you can only have one and not the other. I am a firm believer in the fact that you can have a healthy body and mind along with happiness at the root of oneself. I do believe that pure bliss is achievable. However, I am young and immature still. Despite all my educational fortitude, I am humble enough to say I do not know everything. But I am willing to learn everything I can.

So, if you find yourself in the same boat of me, not in the sense of struggle, but in the sense of curiosity and willing to better oneself, follow along in my journey. You might learn a thing or two, but I may also do the same.

For now, my SMART goals seem like a pretty good place to start.

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