January 11, 2021

Make Your Goals “S-M-A-R-T” to Make Yourself Successful!

Raise your hand if you’ve made a New Years resolution before but didn’t stick with it 🖐

It’s okay, we’ve all been there. Sometimes things happen that can derail any resolution you’ve made (helloooo 2020 😬).

If you’ve made a resolution for 2021, we’re proud of you! You’re ready to do something good for you, whatever that may be. To help you be better prepared and more likely to achieve resolution success, make sure your resolution is “SMART” (a strategic method for setting goals) 👇

Make Your Goals "S-M-A-R-T" to Make Yourself Successful

SPECIFIC
Be clear on what you want to achieve. Instead of “I want to be stronger”, be more specific with something like, “I want to strength train more to be stronger.”

Make Your Goals "S-M-A-R-T" to Make Yourself Successful

MEASURABLE
Your goal should be measurable so you can track your progress easily. Using the above example, saying “I want to strength train 3 days a week to increase my muscle mass by 2lbs” provides a measurable way to track your progress.

Make Your Goals "S-M-A-R-T" to Make Yourself Successful

ATTAINABLE
A goal should be something that you can eventually achieve with commitment. For instance, “I want to squat 500lbs in 3 months” is a very specific goal, but if you haven’t been strength training already then this goal may be out of reach. Instead, think about what you can achieve within a realistic time frame and without barriers to your success.

Make Your Goals "S-M-A-R-T" to Make Yourself Successful

RELEVANT
Goals should be relevant to your abilities, interests, and needs. Using the example above, if your goal is to strength train 3 days a week to increase muscle mass, spending most of your gym time running on the treadmill wouldn’t be the best approach. Instead, follow  a strength training program that will directly impact your goal.

Make Your Goals "S-M-A-R-T" to Make Yourself Successful

TIME-BOUND
Goals ideally have an estimated timeline for completion, which will help you stay on top of your goal instead of putting it off. For example, “I want to strength train 3 days a week to increase my muscle mass by 2lbs in 3 months” gives you a timeline to get stronger.

 

So, take a look at your resolution for 2021 from a SMART perspective 🤓 and you’ll be closer to crushing it! 💪

Article contributed by Lauren Rinker

Lauren Rinker is the Group Fitness Manager at Virginia Center Commons and teaches a variety of classes, including POWER®, CORE®, BLAST®, Yoga, and Fusion small group and team training. She started her Group Fitness career in 2012 after her childhood dream of being a storm chaser didn’t work out due to the immense fear of tornados, and accredits Group Fitness for transforming her life. She loves how Group Fitness and Social Media share the same impact of making and maintaining meaningful connections between people . When she’s not teaching or taking pictures for the VCC Facebook page, you can find her working out, reading, checking off her To-Do lists, drinking coffee, or eating her favorite foods. A self-proclaimed cat lady and night owl, Lauren loves to recharge in the evenings by watching Netflix with her two Instagram-famous cats.

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