Building Blocks to Better Living. Setting and reaching your goals the SMART way

Transcription

1 Building Blocks to Better Living Setting and reaching your goals the SMART way

2 Today you will learn Four key components to effective goal setting How to set short term goals to achieve your long term goals How to motivate yourself through tangible and intangible rewards The importance of tracking your progress

3 What do YOU want to achieve? What s wrong with these goals? My husband wants me to stop smoking My kids want me to become a vegetarian My doctor says should lose weight

4 What are you going to get out of this? Change is hard People need to get something they want Benefits need to be practical & relevant to you

5 Four components of effective goal setting SMART

6 S - Specific State exactly what needs to be accomplished: exactly what are you going do, how much? When? How often? Not specific: I will walk more Specific: I will walk for fifteen minutes during my at lunch break on Monday Wednesday and Friday this week.

7 M - Measurable Helps determine if you met the goal Allows you to evaluate progress Not measurable: I will lose weight Measureable: I will lose 1 pound by the end of the month.

8 A - Attainable Goals need to be something you can really accomplish Not too easy not too hard You need to believe you can accomplish them Scale of one to ten at least a seven in confidence level. NOT Attainable: I will never eat dessert again. Attainable: I will limit myself to having a small dessert on two occasions this week.

9 R -Relevant Goals need to be pertinent to you personal interests needs and talents. NOT relevant:? Relevant:?

10 T - Timed Goals without a timeline are vague it s easy to slip out of them Timelines help you stay focused on attaining the goal Timelines can be short and long term. NOT Timed: I will manage my time better by listing my tasks in Outlook Timed: I will set up the tasks function and list my upcoming tasks in Outlook this Friday.

11 Your road map: short term & long term goals Long term goals Represent big change Require time to reach a month or more Short term goals Steps that lead to attaining the long term goal Can be accomplished in short periods of time less than a month Make mid-course changes if needed

12 Include actions/behaviors in your goals What s wrong with this? Long term goal: I will lose ten pounds by March 31 Short term goal one: I will lose two pounds by the end of the week. Short term goal two : I will lose five pounds by the end of the month

13 Rewards help you achieve your goals Tangible vs. intangible Tangible (external): most helpful when first making changes Intangible (internal): kick in later Little rewards for short term goals/ big rewards for long term goals Need not be costly or material Delayed gratification may need to superimpose

14 Tracking your progress Is consistently linked to successful health change Is especially important when you are first starting to make a change Allows you to see if you re reaching your goals Allows you to make changes as you go along

15 Example Long term goal: I will prepare myself and be ready to quit smoking on Tuesday, March 13 Short term goal one: I will meet with my doctor to discuss nicotine patches and other medical support options by February 24. Short term goal two: I will enroll in the Freedom From Smoking class that begins on February 15, and I will attend all the weekly sessions. Short term goal three: I will remove all smoking materials from my home, car and office by March 12.

16 A few more tips Put your goals in writing Tell someone about your goals Enlist support Place positive prompts to reinforce your resolve to change (e.g. walking shoes by the door) Remove stimuli that might trigger undesirable behavior (remove junk food from the counter) Allow for occasional time off or scaling back.

17 Thank you for attending! Hours: M F: 8:30 am 5:00 PM For more info contact Michele Guerra (direct) 265-WELL (9355) mguerra@illinois.edu