GOAL SETTING

Wooo!!! Happy 2019 Squadies!! As we ring in the New Year, one of my FAVOURITE LEAN-tivities is GOAL SETTING! Whether you are trying to get fit, saving up for that new car, or going back to school, it is LEAN-portant to take a minute to set some personal goals! When you are thinking about what you want to accomplish, make sure you set a variety of goals that are specific to different areas of your life: Fitness, family, career, self love, whatever YOU want to achieve. REMEMBER Squadies, there is NEVER a “right” or “wrong” answer when goal setting, however it is SO SO SO important that you break each goal down into “sub-goals” so you can use them as a check list to help you attain your BIG LEAN goal! I am SO DETERMINED to help each and every Squadie SMASH 2019 that I have outlined some of the steps to follow setting your 2019 goals! Check out my goal setting process, let me know what you think, and let’s make 2019 the LEANEST year YET!

ALSO I will be releasing a goal setting sheet in the next few days that will not only help you write your goals down, but get on track to achieving them too!

S.M.A.R.T TECHNIQUE

You might have heard about the S.M.A.R.T goal setting technique before, and that’s because it WORKS! The S.M.A.R.T (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) technique helps your assess each goal to ensure you’ve thought through every aspect of your goal setting journey. Each letter in the S.M.A.R.T acronym represents a different consideration you must make when setting goals. Follow along with me!

S.M.A.R.T BREAKDOWN

Specific - The first consideration you should make while setting goals is CLARITY. The more specific you are, the clearer the goal will be, and the easier it will be to achieve!

For example, if I say, “I want to get in better shape”. What does that mean? What is “better shape”? Does that mean you can run further? Jump higher? Have a 6 pack? Run a marathon? That goal is NOT specific, and in two months when you reflect on your New Year’s goals, it will be very difficult to determine if you were successful! INSTEAD, figure out exactly what you want to achieve: “I want to lose 20 pounds” -- this is much more specific.

Now that you have your “Big LEAN Goal”, you now need to create sub-goals pertaining to (or that will help you achieve) your main goal. Think of sub-goals as stepping stones you must achieve before you can reach your main goal. This will not only help you be more clear about your goal, but it will also help you see the practicality of your main goal. Is it achievable? I usually like to create 3 sub-goals, and set due dates for each one.

Example,

Main goal: lose 20 pounds

Sub-goal 1: Sign up for the LEANSQUAD and commit to the full 90 Day Lean Plan (First week of Jan)

Sub-goal 2: In January, from 4-7 PM on Sundays, commit to meal prepping (Month of January)

Sub-goal 3: Find a source of motivation - ex. A lean buddy, join leansquad online community (2 weeks)

Setting sub-goals can lay out the path you must follow to reach your goal in a way that is most practical to you. Once this step is done, you should have a very clear idea of your goal and how you will achieve it.

Measurability - measurability refers to 3 things, how often, how much, or how many. One of these 3 questions should be answered for your main goal, as well as for your sub-goals. Having some sort of measurable quality to your goal will help hold you accountable and will help you have a better idea of how close you are to reaching your goal. Example:

Main goal: Lose weight (how much?)

Sub-goal 1: Follow #90dayleanplan (Well, How often? 100% of the time? 90% of the time?)

Sub-goal 2: Meal Prep (How often? Every Sunday? Every Sunday and Wednesday?)

Sub-goal 3: Motivation sources (Who, and How many?)

By breaking your big goal down into smaller, sub goals, you are much more likely to succeed. The big goal seems less daunting, and you can treat your sub goals as a check list, knowing that by completing your smaller goals, you are on your way to completing that BIG GOAL!

Achievability - How achievable is your goal? This step is really about rationalizing and reflecting on your own situation to figure out what you HAVE and what you NEED to do to achieve your goal. This DOES NOT MEAN that you need to short sell yourself or choose goals that are relatively minor, it just means you might need to have more sub-goals, allow more time for your goal to come to fruition, or seek more help!

One of the biggest considerations (and often the FIRST thing) that you should do is ask yourself: Am I willing to put in the work to do this? This accountability portion is CRITICAL to goal setting! Getting YOURSELF on board, (and TRULY on board) and then take the steps to achieving your goal.

Relevance - What part of your life is this goal related to? Is this goal really important to YOU or someone that you really care about (wife, husband, children, parent)? Why? Sometimes when we set a goal, we fail to take into consideration it’s relevance. When you are thinking about your goals, you should be able to say “I want to do/achieve this because _______ and it’s important to me because __________”. Some examples of areas of relevance are career, self-confidence/self-love, family, social life, health etc.

Time-bound - Time is one of the most important aspects to think about when setting goals. Each goal and sub-goal should have a due date or should have some type of time sensitivity tied to it; whether it’s an exact date, or within a certain span of time. This not only can help you be held accountable, but it can also give you motivation and help you accomplish your goals faster. It is easy to procrastinate and put other things ahead of your goals, but when your goals are time-bound, it’s easier to stay on track.

READY TO SET YOUR GOALS?

Are you ready to get a head start and begin setting your goals for 2019? I will be releasing my goal setting sheet in the next few days so keep an eye out!!

LET’S GET LEAN!