How to Actually Achieve the Goals You Set

Most people can relate to the experience of setting a goal and then not following through, be it a New Year’s resolution or a desire to improve health-related behaviors. Often times, the way in which we set our goals interferes with our ability to meet them.  

Psychologists recommend setting goals called SMART goals, which is a specific way to frame the changes we want to make. Research has demonstrated that incorporating the SMART framework increases the likelihood of meeting our goals. In a nutshell, instead of setting a diffuse goal, effective-goal setting includes breaking the change you want to make into highly specific, manageable steps that you can reach and monitor. Psychologists recommend that you start with a long-term goal and then use the SMART Goals framework to break it down into smaller goals (e.g., a weekly goal).

What are SMART goals?

Specific

To set a SMART goal, you need to flesh out your goal by identifying the exact behavior you want to change, add, or remove. Instead of saying, “I want to focus on my health” you may identify a long-term goal as “developing a more balanced and nutrient-rich diet.” Your specific goal for the week that can help you towards the long-term goal may be “incorporate two vegetables at lunch and dinner.”

Measurable

To be effective, you need to know if you are meeting your goal. Therefore, you want to set a goal that is measurable. It is hard to measure “focusing on health,” but much easier to measure if you have eaten two vegetables at lunch and dinner. Think in terms of time (e.g., “I will spend 30 minutes each day walking”) or amount (“I will send emails to two friends this week”).  

Attainable

Most of us have made lofty goals that are either beyond the scope of what we can do or represent such a large amount of change that we become overwhelmed and disheartened and eventually give up. It is key to set goals that you can actually meet. For example, setting the goal of “eating only healthy foods” may sound on-point, but depending on your diet may represent a huge shift and a set up for disappointment. It is likely much more attainable that you could successfully add in two servings of vegetables a day.

Relevant

You want to have your short-term goal help you on the path to what you are ultimately striving towards. Often times we think of many different things that may improve our life. However, they may not all be related to our ultimate goal. For example, you may certainly benefit emotionally from speaking to two friends on the phone each week. However, this goal is not relevant to the long-term goal of developing a more balanced, nutrient-rich diet. Adding two servings of vegetables/day, however, is very relevant to the long-term goal.

Time-based

It is key to have a target date for your goal or timeframe in which you will focus on a task. This provides motivation and helps you prioritize. For example, you may specify that you will work on adding in two servings of vegetables at lunch and dinner for one week.