Hey SFC followers!

So, hopefully by now you’ve been able to take some time and think about your best self vision.  What was that like to really visualize yourself at your best?  Were there things in there that you hadn’t really thought of?  Maybe not…  Was this the first time you’d actually written your vision down?  If you have not done so yet, I’d encourage you to read our last post on creating your vision, and spend some time writing it down.

So why is it so important to come up with the vision before setting goals?  Well, there’s that saying, that it’s about the journey, not the destination.  And I agree… however, without any idea of where the ultimate destination is, your journey may end up taking you a whole lot longer than you anticipated.  How will you set small goals if you don’t know what you’re working toward?  That vision is what gives direction to your goals.  Make sense?

Ok, so we’ve got our visions.  That’s all good and well, but now we’ve got to figure out how to turn those visions into actionable steps.  So, we need to set some goals.  Here’s one important distinction I want to make as you’re thinking about goals.  There are two types of goals: outcome goals and behavioral goals.  Let’s say in your vision you have listed that you’re 15 pounds lighter.  Ok, so an outcome goal is a 15 pound weight loss.  But what are the behaviors that you’re going to participate in to get there?  Are you going to watch your portion sizes?  Keep a food diary?  Start exercising 3x per week?  Weight loss itself is not a behavior, see what I mean?  So, while outcome goals are fine to set, we want to focus on the behavioral goals that are going to get us there.

Ok, so now we’ve got our visions, and we understand that we have to set some behavioral goals to start moving toward the vision.  Now what?  The reality is, we tend to know a whole lot more about what we want than how we’ll get there.  So, let’s take a look at our visions, and decide what the first step is in getting there.

I’ll give an example from my own vision.  If you’ll recall, in my vision I have listed “I have a healthy, balanced relationship with food.”  Is this an outcome or a behavioral goal?  If you said outcome, you’re right!  So, now I need to set some behavioral goals to get there.  Ok, let’s see… I know I struggle in the evenings with unnecessary snacking.  So, maybe I work on that time.  I should probably replace that snacking with something else.  And I have been wanting to start a little bit of relaxation/meditation.  So, maybe this is where I start.  I’ll substitute relaxation activities for my nighttime snacking.

Ok, so take a few minutes and think about where you’d like to start in your own vision.  Take one of your outcome goals and assign a small behavioral step to it.  Is weight loss an outcome?  Being more active in general?  Where will you start?

Ok, great.  So, what’s next?  Now, before we take off on the path to achieving this goal, we’ve got to make our goals SMART.  If you’ve never heard that before, SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.  Similar to our vision, the more detail we can give to our goals, the more likely we are to be successful.  Again, I’ll use my own goal as the example.

So in general, I know I want to replace evening snacking with relaxation.  Now let’s paint the picture…

Specific– What EXACTLY will you be doing?

I will go to the area of my room where I’ve setup my “mindfulness corner” and journal about the best part of my day.

Measurable-Put some time constraints on your goal.  What days?  For how long each time?  What time of day will you do it?

I will journal for 5 minutes a day, every weekday this week before I go to bed.

Attainable-This step is important…on a scale of 0-10 in terms of how confident you feel that you’ll be able to achieve this goal, you want to be between about a 7-9.  That way, you’re challenged, but not so much so that you’re setting yourself up for failure.

So, I know myself, and while 5 minutes may seem too easy for some, for me, that’s hard.  Five straight minutes of sitting still and journaling will be nothing short of a HUGE challenge.  In fact, on a scale of 1-10, I’d say I’m lucky if I’m a 7.  (The only reason I’m putting it that high is because I’ve now told all of you about it so I have some accountability…more on that below:).

Relevant– How does this help me work toward my vision?  Sometimes it’s not a direct path, but more of a first step.

Well, by practicing some relaxation, I won’t feel so anxious, which is oftentimes the cause of my nighttime snacking.  Ultimately if I can reduce some of this anxiety, and therefore reduce some of the unnecessary nighttime snacking, I will start to have a healthier relationship with food.  Is this a direct link?  No.  But is it a good first step to get me there?  I certainly think so (and keep in mind that what YOU think is really all that matters).

Timely-Setup some time constraints.  By when will you have achieved this?  I would recommend weekly goals.  That way, it gives us enough time to give something a try, but it’s not so far away that we forget about our goals completely.

So for me, it’s this week.  I will do this journaling every weekday this week…Starting today through next  Wednesday.

Following so far?  Ok, so before I send you on your way to start setting up some SMART goals for the week, there are three final suggestions I have.

1.  Make your goals positive.  Try and reframe the goals so they’re in a positive light.  Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do.  This goes for your vision as well.

2.  Monitoring- have a way to keep track of your goals.  Again, write them down, keep an electronic document, sign up for an online diary.  Whatever works best for you.

3. Accountability- I’d highly recommend telling someone what your goal is.  This can be uncomfortable to tell people your flaws at first (believe me, it’s not exactly easy for me to tell you that I have trouble with nighttime snacking:).  However, research shows that having someone you’re accountable to is hugely predictive of success in achieving your goals.  So, whether that’s your best friend, your significant other, your mom, or emailing us at smartfitchicks@gmail.com, tell someone:)

Ok, off you go!  Review your vision, set a goal, make it SMART and tell someone about it!

Good luck this week, and keep us posted on your progress.

Remember, we’re here for you, and we’re always listening:)

Chrissy and Kellie