{"id":1883,"date":"2022-01-02T02:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T02:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2022-01-02T02:46:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T02:46:00","slug":"make-your-brain-fitness-goals-s-m-a-r-t-er","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/make-your-brain-fitness-goals-s-m-a-r-t-er\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Your Brain Fitness Goals S.M.A.R.T.er!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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This is the time of year when many people may set goals, resolutions or intentions for a wide variety of personal health and wellness goals that stretch from weight loss, finances, food, to fitness and more. While our personal goals are at the forefront of our minds, or at least at leading some conversations and news posts, I would like to offer one additional tool to support your optimal health journey: S.M.A.R.T. goals. Whether you are someone who has already honored the New Year or prefer not to set \u201cNew Year Resolutions,\u201d this particular strategy can be applied to help achieve goals in different aspects of your life.\u00a0<\/p>

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S.M.A.R.T.
<\/strong>\u201cS.M.A.R.T.\u201d is the acronym used for goal setting, typically in the workplace or business setting, but it can easily be applied to our health and wellness goals. Each letter offers guidance for how a goal should be written for optimal success. \u201cS.M.A.R.T.\u201d goals are a tool that can help us achieve our desired brain fitness resolutions or to get a former brain-healthy habit back on track.<\/p>

To begin, let us learn what \u201cS.M.A.R.T.\u201d means and how it is applied to goal-setting.\u00a0<\/p>

S<\/strong>= Specific \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

M<\/strong>= Measurable\u00a0<\/p>

A<\/strong>= Attainable<\/p>

R<\/strong>= Realistic<\/p>

T<\/strong>= Time-bound<\/p>

\u201cS\u201d = Specific
<\/strong>Goals must be specific, and the more specific the better! The desirable outcome for a goal should be very clear. For example, stating, \u201cI will lose weight\u201d is too broad to be useful. Rather, stating, \u201cI will lose 10 pounds by June 1\u201d is much more specific and clear. Write your goals to be as specific as possible.<\/p>

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\u201cS\u201d = Specific
<\/strong>Goals must be specific, and the more specific the better! The desirable outcome for a goal should be very clear. For example, stating, \u201cI will lose weight\u201d is too broad to be useful. Rather, stating, \u201cI will lose 10 pounds by June 1\u201d is much more specific and clear. Write your goals to be as specific as possible.<\/p>

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\u201cM\u201d= Measurable
<\/strong>The goal must be able to be measured to know if progress is being made and to know if the goal has been achieved. This should be very concrete and straightforward with no guesswork involved! For example, stating, \u201cI will spend less money\u201d cannot be measured. Rather, stating, \u201cI will save an additional $100 per month\u201d is easy to measure. Write your goals to be measurable and consider how you will measure each goal that you write. (Being specific will help with this.)<\/p>

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\u201cA\u201d = Attainable
<\/strong>Unfortunately, one of the initial missteps in goal-setting is creating goals that are not attainable. Feel free to make ambitious goals but strike a balance with crafting an achievable goal, as this supports motivation and overall goal completion. For example, stating, \u201cI will work out everyday for the next 90 days\u201d may not be attainable for most adults, as it may be unrealistic and unhealthy. An option might be to state, \u201cI will work out for 150 minutes per week and aim to be \u201cactive\u201d for at least five minutes daily.\u201d For many, working out every day may not be an initial physical fitness goal but an advanced goal that is the end result of an increased fitness level over time (many years). However, movement throughout the day in small intervals can be readily achieved.<\/p>

It is highly suggested to make smaller goals as stepping stones toward achieving larger goals and to celebrate the milestones along the way! (Make sure the \u201ccelebrations\u201d do not derail the progress but encourage you to keep moving forward.)\u00a0<\/em>At the end of the day, you are accountable to yourself to accomplish your goals, and setting goals that are attainable at the onset help with success and future goal achievement.<\/p>

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\u201cR\u201d = Realistic<\/strong>
Your goals should be important to YOU. Read that again, please. It is very important that your goals align with your ambitions and are not driven by outside influences such as your family or friends wanting you to do something. Your goals should be practical for your circumstances and should be motivating for you. For example, it would be unrealistic to attend an expensive yoga class if it does not fit your budget and\/or you really do not have an interest in learning yoga with your friends. Writing a goal to achieve this would not be to your own benefit. Instead, write a realistic goal for yourself that prioritizes your brain care, focused on something that is important to you and your life as it is now.<\/p>

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\u201cT\u201d = Time-bound
<\/strong>Make sure your goal has a specific time frame for completion attached to it. By placing a date to your goal, you have accountability and a sense of urgency for the goal. Now, with our \u201cS.M.A.R.T.\u201d goals, we have ways to measure our success along the way and know that \u201csomeday\u201d is not a time-bound anchor point. Add a date to your goal and know it may not be an endpoint but a place to evaluate what is going well and what is not going well on your path to your goal.\u00a0<\/p>

For example, stating, \u201cI want to read more\u201d is a place to start, but how and when will you achieve this goal? Try stating, \u201cI will read at least one book per month and read for 20 minutes every morning with my cup of coffee until the end of March.\u201d This is a\u00a0S.M.A.R.T.er<\/em>\u00a0brain fitness goal.<\/p>

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<\/strong>Summary
<\/strong>In wrapping up the writing of S.M.A.R.T. goals, think back to English class and the \u201c6 W\u2019s\u201d in writing\u00a0Who?\u00a0What?\u00a0When?\u00a0Where?\u00a0Why? How?\u00a0<\/em>When reading the goal that you wrote down, evaluate if it a\u00a0S.M.A.R.T<\/em>\u00a0goal using the above acronym. If not, what is missing? Re-write the goal until it is\u00a0S.M.A.R.T.er\u00a0<\/em>for your own success. The S.M.A.R.T. goal format is one tool for your brain health toolbox. Onward and upward in 2022 and beyond!\u00a0<\/p>

In brain health & wellness,
Krystal<\/em><\/p>

Main image from Canva. SMART chart designed by Krystal Culler.<\/em><\/p>

**W<\/em>ritten for \u201cEngAGE Your Brain!<\/a>\u201d blog series for Northeast Ohio Boomer & Beyond Magazine. Read the original article post\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"SMART\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the time of year when many people may set goals, resolutions or intentions for a wide variety of personal health and wellness goals that stretch from weight loss, finances, food, to fitness and more. While our personal goals are at the forefront of our minds, or at least at leading some conversations and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/NE-Ohio-Boomer-Blog-Promotion-4.png","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualbrainhealthcenter.com\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}