Smart” Goals

This week is really going to be focused around goal setting! But before you begin writing down your goals I want to explain to you how to set goals to be more successful in achieving them! I like to use the acronym “SMART” goals. “SMART” stands for SPECIFIC. MEASURABLE. ACTION ORIENTED. REALISTIC. TIMELY. So, when creating your goals for this adventure, I really want you to focus on being very specific in your goals and make sure they are “SMART.” As well as having smart goals, I’d like to talk about the three main types of goals. These include outcome goals, performance goals, and process goals. These can be a little trickier but ill help you get them down. So a performance goal focuses on your own personal achieving standards based on previous performances.. NOT the performance of others! An example of this goal could be “Be consistent in participating in one sort of exercise a day of the following choices; kickboxing, HIIT, spin, lifting weights, or yoga. Also sticking to a healthier diet restricting foods with a high sugar content, based on the label, no greater than 10g. Bread limited to 10% of the time compared to consuming bread 40% of the time in the past.” This is a great example; notice the specific measurements and comparison to my past performance. The next type of goal is a process goal. “Process goals focus on exactly what actions you need to do to in practice or preparation to increase the odds you will be able to replicate those actions during competition.” [i] An example of a process goal would be “Keep a food log determining the amount of calories being consumed and the amount of calories being burned. Also keeping a log of daily exercise. Assess each month with a caliper to determine progress. Avoid foods that shouldn’t be consumed and reward every month if goal was reached.” The last type of goal would be an outcome goal. An outcome goal is the main goal you are trying to achieve. This is where SMART comes into play. An example of an outcome goal could be “lose a total of 12% body fat in one year, essentially losing 1% each month being measured by a skin caliper.” So for your first assignment, I would like all of you to post your outcome goal, performance goal, and process goal in the group and also write them down on a piece of paper so you can see them every day throughout this adventure! Declaring and writing things down increases your chances for succeeding in those goals!

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[i] Weinberg, R., & Gould, D. (2015). Exercise and Psychological Well-Being. In      Foundations of Sport an Exercise Psychology (Sixth ed., p. 649). Champaign,    Illinois: Human Kinetics.