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The Power of Well-Crafted Goals

Goal setting is one of the key behavior change skills taught in Active Living Every Day (ALED) and Healthy Eating Every Day (HEED), two group programs developed by Active Living Partners (www.ActiveLiving.info), a division of Human Kinetics. These programs are based on research, and they teach adults how to become more physically active and how to improve their health through better dietary choices, respectively. The following article is written by Heidi Duskey, a certified ALED and HEED facilitator. Heidi is also principal and cofounder of AdvancingWellness, a worksite wellness services provider in the Boston area (www.advwellness.com).

We often launch into new, healthy goals with the best of intentions. We create goals like “I’m finally going to lose those 15 pounds,” or “I’ll dust off the exercise bike that’s in my basement and actually use it,” or “I’m going to join a health club to get in shape.”

Most of us have found, however, that our goals get us only so far. We lose motivation. We become impatient. We give up. We wonder why we haven’t yet found the key to success and whether our goals are simply unattainable.

If this sounds like you, consider for a moment that a key to success is the goal-setting process itself and that most of your goals may be missing one or more essential characteristics. These characteristics—personal, realistic, specific, and measurable—are the cornerstones to a well-crafted goal that can help you succeed where you’ve been unsuccessful before.

How do you use these characteristics?

Personal. Your goal has to mean something to you. If you’re planning to eat more healthfully because your doctor told you to or you want to lose weight to please your spouse, success will be difficult if you’re not committed to the goal as well. If your goal is important to you and to someone else, it can be helpful to ask that person for his or her support. Just be certain that you are clear about the kind of support you want!

Realistic. Make sure your goal is realistic. Ask yourself, “How confident am I about achieving this goal?” Your confidence level should be at least an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 indicates total confidence). If it’s not, modify your goal until it’s an 8 or higher. Also, if you’re not sure whether medical or exercise science realistically supports your goal, be sure to check with your physician, registered dietitian, or fitness professional. (Hint: It’s difficult to consistently lose more than 1.5 pounds, or 0.7 kilogram, per week because of the caloric deficit that’s required.)

Specific. Your goal should be as specific as you can make it. If you want to get in shape, determine what getting in shape looks and feels like to you. If you want to walk or run a 5K charity race, choose the race. If you’re going to use your exercise bike on a regular basis, you will know what “regular” means only when you’ve created a schedule for yourself.

Measurable. Your goal needs to be measurable in some way—otherwise you won’t know when you’ve achieved it! Examples are quantifying a weight-loss goal, fitting into a piece of clothing that’s been hiding in the back of your closet, being able to carry the groceries into your house with ease. (You can define “ease” as a number of your choosing on a scale of 1 to 10; 1 would require no effort and 10 would require maximum effort.) All of these will work because each permits you to measure your progress and success.

And speaking of success, do plan to reward yourself when you achieve your goal. Choosing a way to acknowledge your success will help to keep you committed to your goal and motivated during rough spells. Also, if it will take you two or more months to achieve your goal, it will be helpful to set interim, short-term goals to serve as benchmarks of your progress. (And feel free to celebrate your achievement of those benchmarks as well!)

Taking the time to formulate well-crafted goals can really pay off. Not only will you identify a clear path to follow, but you can also anticipate greater success and a more enjoyable journey. Have fun!