Set SMART(ER) goals with picsfordesign.com!

Hey there! How are your New Year's resolutions? Are you still pursuing your goals? The majority of people forget about them in a couple months. One of the reasons for that is unrealistic and unsustainable goals. Today we will teach you the SMART(ER) planning methodology to make sure you achieve all your goals!

 

As you may already have guessed, SMART(ER) is an acronym. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.  (ER) is for evaluating your goals and rewarding yourself for achievements.

 

So, your goals should be:

Specific: Clear and well defined. Let's say, you want to be healthier. What do you actually mean? Eating healthy? Exercising frequently? Maybe you want to gain some muscle or lose a bit of fat? Or do you want to focus on your mental health instead? Define your goal. If you know, what you really want, you'll find ways to achieve it.

 

Measurable: with a specific criteria to measure your progress easily. For instance, you want to improve your diet and eat more fruits and vegetables. Then count how much fruit and veg you eat daily. Try to have a fruit or a vegetable with every meal. If you try to improve your mental health, use a mood tracking app. If you want to read more, count books and pages.

 

Achievable: something attainable. A goal should be something you can get if you work on it. For example, "I want to lose 10 pounds" or "I want to read 12 books this year" are good goals. "I want my body to look like Michelle Lewin's" or "I want to be smart like my cousin" are bad ones. You are a unique person, with yours weaknesses, strengths, lifestyle and genes. Don't try to be someone's clone, aim for being a better version of yourself.

 

Realistic: Something within your reach, relevant to your lifestyle and background. And most importantly, something that will not damage your physical or mental health, or affect your career or social life. Don't be harsh on yourself and take your time. Give up on extreme diets, hardcore training routines or studying from down till dusk.

 

Timely: Your goal should have a clear timeline. Let's say, you want to be able to do proper pushups in two months or to learn ukulele in a year.

 

Evaluating your goals is also important. Sometimes you just grow up from your previous mindset and don't need that achievement anymore. Sometimes life interferes with your plans. Sometimes you need to rethink and change them, as the goal you set before turned out to be too hard or too easy for you. Maybe you need another strategy. Reflect on your previous goals instead of considering them failed straightaway.

 

Reward yourself for reaching milestones. If you did well, give yourself a present: meet your friends, go somewhere with your family, watch a new TV series, buy yourself a new dress, etc.

 

When you set a SMART(ER) goal think of realistic and sustainable ways to achieve it and to measure your progress. Start with small steps. Try to figure things out. For example, you are a busy mum, but you aim to exercise more. Try home workouts, walking instead of driving, hiking with your family, playing active games and so on. Set your daily norm of active movement, like 40 minutes a day, and try to follow it. Count the successful days. And don't forget to reward yourself!

 

Our website has a Post Editor where you can create a digital planner or a timetable for yourself. And to make planning and organizing things more fun, some of our customers also use scrap kits to decorate their digital or physical notebooks, planners and diaries.