Goal setting is one of the most important components to consider when you are trying to improve your wellbeing.
Setting a goal is the principal tool for helping anyone reach their full potential.
The main purpose of setting a structured list of goals is to provide you with an anticipated future outcome. It’s sometimes hard to keep motivated when you don’t have a set goal, plan, or target to where you plan to be in the future.
Imagine getting in your car and not setting a destination, you would be driving around forever. If you know where you are going it’s much easier to get there.
You can set goals for different parts of your life. When we deliver seminars or visit offices, we prove that if you stretch your pectoral (chest) muscles for 15 seconds, three times a day you will loosen your neck muscle and improve your shoulder movement, reducing the risk of injury.
Great idea, you would think? Yes, and we always get agreement, but why don’t people do it though?
Usually, it’s because they forget to fit it into their daily routine, and they haven’t set themselves a goal. The best goals are SMART.
- Specific – chest stretch
- Measurable – 15 seconds
- Achievable – Yes. It’s not difficult
- Relevant – Yes. It works.
- Timely – 3 times per day
Once a goal is set, we can address habits. Changing daily habits to help improve your overall wellbeing. It is often said it takes 28 days to change or develop a habit. So, if you can achieve the above goal for 28 days you will change your habits for the better and improve your wellbeing.
Let’s think about goals a bit deeper, what do they do?
- Give you direction
- Motivate you
- Improve adherence
- Help you achieve
- Give you purpose
These are powerful reasons to set goals and ensure you get where you want to be.
When setting goals, you must use the acronym SMART or one that is similar. People set goals that are sometimes not in line with SMART, for example, I want to lose some weight.
- How much weight?
- When do you want to achieve this?
- Also, be realistic. If you aren’t realistic, you can totally demotivate yourself. It’s much better to set a smaller goal you can achieve, reward yourself and set some more. Enjoy the feeling of achieving what you set out to do. Wow! Let’s set another!
Please don’t just read this. Get a pen out or use your notes on your phone and set a goal. Make it a small goal and see if you can take a small step.
Sometimes it is best to think of a long-term goal then work your way back.
Here we’ll use weight loss as an example again.
GOAL: I want to lose a stone… in a week!
Not realistic at all would you agree? Not if you want to do it correctly and maintain the weight loss.
How about:
If you completed your short-term goal 6 times you could actually lose 18lb, but it is always best to make the timeframe achievable.
You will have a goal in mind, but it may feel out of reach. This is a way to make it more achievable. Pick a small goal this week and see if you can achieve something this week using SMART and then the sky is the limit.