SMART Goal Setting
Why Set Goals?
First off, why do we set goals? What is the point of goal setting in our lives?
As humans, we need motivation. We need to be striving forward and towards something, or else we fall into boredom and dissatisfaction. But a major question is: how do we set goals? We get intimidated by setting too lofty of goals, so sometimes we don’t set them at all. Well, at Nova 3 we’re here to help you with proper goal setting.
I love using the acronym “SMART” to help achieve your goals. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based. These are all things to consider when you are setting a goal.
Specific:
When setting a goal, we want to make sure it’s “Specific”. You need to narrow down the goal and set specific markers on it, rather than making it just a general goal. For example, a general goal would be: “I want to get a muscle up”. A specific goal would be “Twice a week, I am going to work on my muscle up strength work”. See the difference? Now you have set specific markers to your goal. The more specific your goal is, the more likely you are to stick with it.
Measurable:
Measurable goals means you are able to measure whether or not – and how much – your goal has been achieved. For example: “On Monday and Wednesday, I am going to spend 20 minutes working on my strength to get a muscle up”
Attainable:
This is to make sure the goal is actually attainable. If the example we are using is to get a muscle up, you need to have an honest conversation with yourself. Is it attainable? Or do you need to take a step back and work on something below that first? We’re not here to shoot you down, it’s just something that needs to be looked at and addressed when setting a proper goal!
Realistic:
This is very similar to attainable. A realistic goal is something you can confidently plan and progress towards, knowing it has a chance to ACTUALLY happen.
Time-Based:
A general goal often has no end date, or a timestamp put on it. Setting a time-based goal is going to keep you on track and motivated to complete that goal. If you don’t set an end date, how are you going to stay motivated? You might skip a day, or say “Meh, next time”. After a while, that snowballs and you have completely derailed from your goal. We have ALL done this, so don’t lie to yourself when you say that has never happened to you! For example: “In the next 3 months, I will get a muscle up”
So, our takeaway from this when you’re goal setting or talking with your coach is, set SMART goals: From this you will build momentum, find success, and develop as an athlete.
Author: Jenn Lord