“Goal” is such a simple word, but it
has a lot of meaning behind it. A goal is your objective and your motivation to
do something. Goals can range from getting
up before 10 on a weekend to running a marathon. Goals are dreams that you want
and will put effort into achieving. The best way to do this is to set SMART goals.
To set a SMART goal, ask yourself:
·
Specific -- What do you want to get out of
achieving your goal?
·
Measurable – How you know when you are making
progress towards your goal?
·
Attainable -- Can you meet your goal?
·
Realistic -- Is your goal something you are both
willing and able to work for?
·
Timely-- Set you time frame, when do you want
your goal to be completed?
A SMART goal has to have all of
these aspects; this will help you achieve them. When you think through a dream
enough to make it a SMART goal, you are setting out a plan to achieve your
overall goal.
For the past year (plus some), I
have struggled with depression and anxiety about school. I have chronic headaches that only go away
with stress-reducing sleep. My goal is
to enter my next phase of school as healthy as I can be – both mentally and physically. I have found that when I make working out a
priority, it helps me relief stress in all areas of my life. It also makes me
want to eat healthier and get more sleep – the two things my doctor has
encouraged. After experiencing a bout of
headaches, I have learned to reset my behavior and force my life back in
balance. Consequently life gets
better. When I let things get out of
balance, the headaches return. I will measure my progress towards this goal by
the amount of time between headache bouts.
This goal is attainable because the behaviors necessary to achieve it
are things I should be doing anyway and are not difficult. The goal is realistic because it is
measurement is based on improvement. I am putting a hopeful and practical
timeframe on accomplishing my goal of before I leave for college in the fall.
Although I would want to do this so
I can live a happy and healthy life. I also need to do this because of what my
career goal is. The main goal of the
field of recreation is for the community/participants to have fun and to be
healthy. To succeed in this field, I will need to be healthy too.
