Step 1 - Be SMART
Setting SMART Targets is about all about the following;
S - Be Specific
Setting a goal such as "I want to lose some weight by Summer" isn't going to help you - there's no real goal to achieve there, a goal such as "I want to lose 4 pounds by Summer" is much more specific and therefore more likely to be achieved as you can track progress, see where things have gone wrong and make the changes to improve things.
M - Make Them Measurable
Like I mentioned above, if you can track your goal then you can see what's going wrong, if anything or what's going well so you can do more of it. Although we may hate getting on the scales it allows you to see your own progress and that can be the biggest motivator. I do believe that jumping on the scales every morning is a bad thing, but once a week shows the overall process - I'd also say weighing yourself on a Monday is also possibly not the best idea after a weekend as that can also lead to demotivation especially if you see a figure which isn't good for you; my weigh in day is a Tuesday.
A - Make Them Achievable
Unrealistic goals will not only frustrate you but will take forever to achieve which will make you low as well as make you question what it is your doing. The fact of the matter is you may not be doing anything wrong but the target you've set is just a little unrealistic. I know this first hand. I went through a period of feeling so fed up with the way I looked that I decided I was going to lose 20lbs in a month - it was never ever going to happen and if it did it wouldn't have been healthy. Achievable goals are ones you can see closely - like Bridget mentioned on the Tone it Up blog - little sprints, not sprinting your way through a marathon. Don't punch above your weight.
R - Be Realistic
This is very similar to 'A'. Realistic targets are ones that are easier to meet. If you keep meeting your targets I promise you that you will feel so good about yourself and you'll be so much more motivated to set yourself another target which when you get to it will continue to make you feel great. If your targets aren't realistic such as losing 20lbs in a month, you'll become bored of trying and you'll start to slip down all the wrong pathways. I believe that you can have one big target which may seem unachievable, but if you have lots of mini goals in-between then this is realistic as it's all about mini-milestones :)
T - Make Them Time Measurable
Goals that can be slotted into a time frame can give you so much motivation! For example, this morning my Tone it Up Sister Sara, (@sd_tiu) and I decided that this week we're going to lose 3lbs. By deciding to do this in a week, we know that we've got a deadline and we need to work towards it. It's the same with school work for me - I knew I needed to study for my exams and the deadline was my exam, knowing that they were 3 weeks away helped me to know what it was that I needed to do and when I needed to do it by. I'm a huge one for organisation so being a little more active in knowing what you're going to do and when you're going to do it by gives you something to focus on which, for me, is a motivator.
So, once you've been SMART you need to be a SWOT. This is what I learnt about today and I think it's a fantastic idea!
Step 2 - Be a SWOT
Once you've set your SMART Targets it's important to decipher whether or not they're working for you. Which is where SWOT comes in.
S - Successes
Focusing on your success allows you to see the things that went really well within your target, which can mean something really big such as I got to my target weight for this week or it could mean that I lost some of the weight I wanted to do this week and that's great, as Sara says, a loss is a loss. This brings me on to my next point;
W - Weaknesses
I don't like to spend too much time focusing on my weaknesses but doing so means that you can turn your weaknesses into successes which is something I LOVE to do. Knowing where you've gone wrong means that you can fix it which is the best way to be able to achieve your goals.
O - Opportunities
At some point during the week you should see what successes you could have in the future; i.e. next week do I have a little bit more time to hit the gym? Is there a new class starting up in my area next week? Is there a new app I can try? Taking these opportunities will give you something to be excited about which in itself is a motivator.
T - Threats
As always with life, with the good comes the bad. However if you could spot the threats before they occur, you can take steps to put them right. For example, I know I'm going out for my sister's birthday this Friday which could be a massive threat to my goal as I know I could splurge and binge on everything the restaurant has to offer. However by checking out the restaurant's website, I've been able to check out what it is they have to offer and decide on what would be the best thing for me to order. I like the 6 P's; Prior Preparation Prevent Poor Performance. By noticing where there could be potential threats it can allow you to notice where these problems can be avoided.
There you have it! A two step method to motivational success :) I hope you guys can take as much from this I did and I hope you enjoyed this post! I'm sorry it was a little long!
All my Love
Georgia :)
0 comments:
Post a Comment