S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting and my 2019 Goals!
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Today, I'm sharing how I goal set using the S.M.A.R.T goal setting technique and my 2019 plans!
S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting
I’m a huge fan of S.M.A.R.T Goal setting and I’ve been utilizing this method since before I can remember. I found it to be a huge help in my life as a figure skating coach when working with students and parents to plan their upcoming season. I naturally adopted it for myself and have been using this technique in planning out my goals ever since! There are some slight variations to this acronym, but to me this stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time Sensitive. Let’s dive into these individually and see how they all work together to help you meet your goals.
S - Specific
Being as specific as possible about your goals will help you to achieve it. By really pinpointing what you’re working towards you can have a clear vision in your mind of the end result. For example, your blanket goal this year could be “Get in better shape”, but a more specific goal could be “Loose 5 pounds and 2 inches off around my thighs) (…which was my goal last year lol!)
M - Measurable
This is the tool box section! How is the goal measured? What determines your success? Do you have the tools you need to reach it? Continuing on from the example above, to loose 5 pounds and 2 inches off around my tights, the way to measure this would be a scale and a tape measurer. Without those tools reaching this goal may be incredibly difficult. Make sure you set yourself up for success and provide yourself with the tools you need to succeed!
A - Actionable
The action plan section! When you pinpoint the specific objective you are working towards, you need to also determine the smaller steps that will help you reach it, or in other words, mini goals. Identifying and writing down the steps that it will take to reach your goal is incredibly important to your success. Sometimes I find it helpful to draw this out! I start with the goal in a circle at the top of the page, and then create bubbles bellow it listing the steps I need to take to achieve the final result.
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R - Relevant
Ask yourself how relevant your goals are for your life. This is the “be honest” moment here friend. Do you REALLY want, for example, to write 6 blog posts per week? Or when you sit back and think about the time commitment and energy that would take maybe you scale that back to 2? Ask yourself why you want to reach this goal? Is this what you want?
At one point in time I wanted to be a super important competitive figure skating coach and take skaters to the Olympics. Before I ended my career I had a face-palm moment when goal setting for myself that I realized in no way did I possess the personality or demeanor to BE a competitive figure skating coach. I was much happier with beginner skaters and would have preferred to pursue that!
T - Time sensitive
Your goal needs to have a time frame. Wether that be December 31st 2019 or another specific day throughout the year, you MUST identify when your goal will be finished. I like designing my goals to end at the end of the year, and then assigning a specific date mid year for a check in. For some goals I actually have a check in each quarter, where I review how my goals are going and if I’m on track.
I have found that by checking off each of these criteria my goals almost always are successful!
My 2019 Goals!
I usually start planning my goals in October and November, and ruthlessly edit them at the end of December and beginning of January. I usually start out with about 20 goals I want to achieve and whittle it down to 10 or under. My goals are a mixture of things I’ve always wanted to learn, things I want to do for my Husband or Daughter, and just general self improvement.
A Note: I do have several new habits that I’ve introduced to my routine, but personally I’m not including those into my 2019 goals. For example, I’m building the habit of being totally off my phone from 8-1 / 3-7 daily and I use a habit app to track this each day. Totally your call to include building certain habits into your goals! There is no wrong way to do this! I have another habit of improving posture that I’m working on and I’ve added to my habit rotation!
Is getting control of your finances on your list of goals this year?
Check out this free printable and workbook from credit.com
Household Goals
Learn how to iron shirts - This is something I’ve wanted to learn for about 3 years but never had the time to! Excited to get on youtube and start watching some tutorials!
Amelia: Potty training and removal of milk bottles - big two for us this year! Amelia turns 3 in May and I would like to knock both of these goals off by then!
Make 4 frozen meals per month - I want to build a stock of at least 20 freezer meals for my family and then additional meals that can be dropped off to friends and people in need.
Health
2019 Doctor appointments - Making sure I get all of these done this quarter! Eye doctor, a physical (yay.) and the dentist (another yay.) I actually only have this goal for health because I’m pretty happy with where I am in my health journey!
An Organized Life
Blog twice a month - Content schedule prepared and ready to execute!
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Personal
Real friends before virtual ones - I love my virtual community! However, after reflecting on 2018 I feel that I was not as present for my real life friends and family as I wanted to be. I want to spend 2019 correcting that. (note to my friends and family: Thanks for not pushing me over / punching me in the face every time I was on my phone instead of looking at you when we were having a conversation.)
Read 4 books a month - This is one of my favorite goals! I love reading and I’m super excited to have different genre’s to tackle in 2019. Later this month I will be coming out with a massive book list to help you choose your books for the year! I will update the books I’m reading each month on the front page of my website so you can follow along!
Thats it for my 2019 goals in a nut sell!
What are your goals for this year? I would love to know in the comments!
Have a wonderful week my friend!
Lauren
