5 Goals Smashed into Stone

For many of us in this crazy world, interests come and go. We see something that piques our interest, swear we will do that someday, and end up forgetting about it. A great example of this would be reading an inspirational article about something you like (ie cooking, fitness, etc) and wanting to do that activity too. We forget to actually follow through a lot of the time though. What is great about being adventurous and liking to try new things is that we are not actually limited to ONE thing! Crazy, right? So how do we determine real goals versus an artificial one.

I have found that writing down any resolutions you make to be the most potent. I have mentioned it before that this is a fantastic way of revisiting your goals and keeping you fixated on them. I would recommend having a list of five things written down on a piece of paper (better yet, have a few copies) and placing them somewhere you will visit often...by often I mean at least 2-3 times a day. This could be the fridge, bathroom, car or any place that you go often enough to have an effect. This will keep you honed in on what you want to accomplish. And these don't necessarily have to be specifically a weight loss goal, just goals of things you would like to get started on or focus in for the next three to six months.

Now goal-setting is an art of its own. Through my place of occupation, I learned of an awesome acronym that helps with goals and keeping them as strong and attainable as possible. The 5 guidelines to making goals  are:

Specific- General goals don't work. If you wanted to travel, be specific on WHERE you want to travel.
Measurable- Numbers keep us focused. If you want to lose weight, get an idea of where you want to go.
Attainable- Unrealistic goals are caustic. Set your sights on goals that are feasible in a given time frame.
Stretching- Although we want realistic goals, we also want to get out of our comfort zone a bit.
Harmonious- Sacrificing self and soul for a goal is harmful. Obtaining your goal should feel good.

An example goal would be as follows: I want to lose 10 pounds in a month by eating 2 healthy meals per day and incorporating 3 weekly exercise routines into my schedule.

This goal has all the qualities of SMASH, will keep you focused, and you will know if you have been maintaining it because there are rules for accomplishment. A whole bunch of genius all balled into one concept. If you want to be even MORE specific, be my guest. I try to make the goals still simple enough to understand without muddling them with crazy rules.