GUY and GIRL TIP: Smart Goals

With the start of the New Year comes new years resolution. And a lot of these resolutions are normally health related. We may want to lose weight, exercise more or eat better. They all sound like a great idea at the time, and probably for the first couple of months, but then the old habits set back in and the new year's resolution stay on the back burner until the following year.

A lot of the time the goals we set are just too unrealistic. We may say that we want to lose 30kg in 3 months and then after the first month when the scales haven't moved we get disheartened and start to think what is the point. Then the goals are forgotten about and old ways sneak back in. 

To be successful in your new year resolutions, you need to make SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time-based. So to say that I want to lose weight is not specific enough. You need to say something more along the lines of this: "Starting by the end of this month I will have lost 2kg" or "Starting from Monday I will exercise three days a week for 30 minutes each session". Both of these goals have a time frame, you can measure your success, and the are achievable. 

If your goals are unrealistic, you won't achieve them by the deadline. It's important to understand this does not equal failure. You have learnt that the goal was unrealistic and you need to sit down and reassess what a more realistic goal would look like. If you achieve the goal, you can then redefine your goal for the next month.

When goal setting, it's always important to have both short-term and long-term goals. Your long-term goal can be how much weight you want to lose by the end of the year - remember to be realistic. You short-term goals are immediate goals that you redefine after every two weeks or a month. Short-term goals help you to achieve the long term goals, and in a way a more important than the long-term goals. If you get the short-term goals wrong, there is no way you will achieve you long-term goal.

Start your goal setting today and remember each goal has to be SMART - doesn't matter if it is a short-term or a long-term goal. Write your goals down an put them in a place that you will see them every day. Assess your success after every two weeks or one month. When you reach your goal, sent another one and reward yourself. You could go for a massage, get your hair done or go for a game of golf - anything but a reward based on food.

Good luck with all your goals and have a great 2008.