How to Set Effective Goals using the SMART Checklist

The ability set effective goals is a very important skill that we all need to have. In this day and age, it's difficult to find a successful person who doesn't set and accomplish goals.

This video discusses the SMART checklist that is useful for setting good goals.

Here is a brief summary of the content

Effective goals motivate and inspire us, increase success rate, focus us, and reduce frustration. But how do we set effective goals? An effective goal-setting tool is SMART goal checklist. SMART is an acronym that spells out Specific, Measurable, Audacious, Realistic, and Time-bound. Your weight loss goals should be a combination of process and outcome goals and meet the following criteria:

Specific. An effective goal must be specific. E.g. A goal that says “I will exercise weekly” is vague and not specific. On the contrary, saying, “I will ride my bike for 30 minutes 5 days per week is specific. You answer what, when, and how questions.

Measurable. Your goal must be measurable. If you cannot measure your goal, you won’t be able to objectively determine if you have succeeded or not. A goal that says, “I will eat better or I will run more” is difficult to measure. But saying I will run 1 mile daily or eat 1,200 calories or less per a day can be measured. An important reason why your goals must be measurable is also that measurable goals allow you to assess yourself regularly as you move towards your goal.

Audacious/Challenging. A goal must also be audacious to be motivating. Small unchallenging goals don’t motivate people. However, it’s important to make goals that aren’t just challenging but also attainable–ie. you must be able to procure enough time and resources to achieve the goal.

Realistic. While you should have an audacious goal, it also must be realistic. E.g. a realistic outcome goal for a lot of people is losing 5 to 10 percent of their current weight. To say you will lose 20 lbs per week for 12 weeks will be unrealistic. Our Process goals must also be realistic. We should avoid bitting more than we can chew. Setting unrealistic goals actually undermines our efforts and frequently results in frustration and disappointment.

Trackable and Timebound. Effective goals are ones that have a deadline and allow us to track daily or weekly progress. Keeping a record of your progress a record of progress helps us to easily achieve our goals. For example, if your outcome goal is to lose 20 lbs in 16 weeks, you should record your weight each weak to track your progress toward your goal. If your goal is to eat 1200 calories a day, keep a food diary. Keeping track can help you evaluate your progress and stay motivated.