How to have S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals to achieve more.
Iām going to talk about why thereās no such thing as ālife balanceā and exactly how to create the life that you deserve.
How do you set goals and win in life? This is going to be a three-part series. I want to start off with a quoteā¦ āA dream without a goal is just a wishā. A lot of people dream but they donāt set goals for it. Iām just going to be talking about how to set goals specifically. A lot of you know that my philosophy is āWe donāt need to be taught new things. We just need to be reminded.
What weāre going to go over is not just SMART goals, but SMARTER goals. Iām also going to go through this exercise called āThe Wheel of Lifeā. This is a tool that the team and I have been using for years to help us set goals, not only personally but also professionally, for the business.
S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals. Youāve probably heard of the acronym āS.M.A.R.Tā goals. S – specific, M – measurable, A – action-oriented, R – realistic, and T – time based. I like to add the E (evaluate) and R (reward) because I like to āevaluateā my goals and also set a reward.
I think itās a very important thing that when we set goals, not only do we want to set rewards for them but also evaluate how we did them.
Let me touch on these (S.M.A.R.T.E.R) a bit more just because thereās a lot of little nuances with these. Letās start with āSpecificā. Obviously, we want āspecific goalsā. If you just want to lose weight versus I want to lose X amount of weight or I want to lose weight because X, Y, and Z the latter two would be more specific goals. The more specific, the better.
Measurable. We want number based measurements. A lot of people that donāt like measuring numbers (for example: stepping on a scale) have a more subjective goal. Maybe itās more like āfitting back into these jeansā. Itās still measurable because thereās a measurement in those jeans (jean-size). So, it could still be measurable without exactly having a number attached to it.
I like numbers just because it makes things realistic. I heard a quote last week, āBelieve the numbers, not the narrativeā. I thought that was such a powerful quote. There are stories that go on in our heads like: āI didnāt lose weightā or āI look like garbageā or āI donāt look goodā. These are the thoughts that are going on in our heads but when we see the number, it actually does better
The opposite is true too. For example, if the narratives in our heads are like: āIām totally fine, Iām totally fineā. Then suddenly we gain a ton of weight– thatās when people are afraid to step on the scale because thereās no number attached to it. So, measurable, the M is very important.
The next one is very specificā¦ Action-oriented goals. You want to make sure thereās an action attached to your goals. So if we set a goal of weight loss, what are the actions that we need to do in order to lose weight? Do we need to work out three days per week? Do we need to keep our calories under a certain amount? Those are action-oriented goals. For example, the action of preparing my meals every single day so I stay under my calorie-count.
R for realistic. We obviously want to set realistic goals. You canāt lose 50 pounds in a week. We want to give it a realistic goal. Us, as coaches, we give people that realism to help them see whatās realistic. This is based on how many clients weāve worked with over the years.
Time-based goals. This is very important in setting a goal. A goal without a deadline is just a dream. You want to make sure that you set timelines for how long itās going to take you to actually achieve a specific goal based on time.
E – evaluate your goals and look back into them. And R – always believe in the rewards. Thereās got to be some type of reward behind a goal in order for it to have a powerful-lasting effort. If you go on a 6-week challenge or if you go on a 21-day challenge or doing any of our challenges, give yourself a reward at the end of this for achieving your goal. You deserve it.
So, thatās S.M.A.R.T.E.R goals.
Now, the question is… how do you know which goal to focus on? This is where this story comes in. If youāve ever heard an orchestra then you know that an orchestra doesnāt play all the instruments all at the same time. That would sound horrible!
Can you imagine all the instruments going at it at the same time? Violins, saxophones, whatever it is thatās playingā¦ it wouldnāt sound good. Thatās why thereās a conductor who is orchestrating to create harmony.
I donāt believe in actual balance. Thereās not actually a balance. You canāt balance work, life, and everythingā¦ itās harmony! There are times wherein youāre going to have to go hard at work. There are times when youāre going to have to go hard at your personal life.
In order to figure this out, we use a tool called The Wheel of Life. Itās a powerful tool. I highly suggest doing this at least once a year. I’ve been doing this for 4 or 5 years, not only with myself but also with the team as well.
The Wheel of Life is where you look at different categories of your life. You rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 in fulfillment. How fulfilled are you in each of these categories?
First category is Money, because everybody wants more money. You just want more because you think about the things that you could buy and you think about all the amazing things that ānot having moneyā is creating in your life right now. But what fulfilment really is, is asking yourself what do you need to live on?
Are you fulfilled in terms of how much money youāre making? Does it satisfy your savings and expenses? If you think: āThe amount of money Iām making based on my work is not enoughā (in which case everybody doesnāt believe theyāre paid enough), then what you should really look at is what are you fulfilling? Is it fulfilling your life? Is it fulfilling your family and personal obligations? Thatās what you want to rate yourself on, on a scale of 1 to 10.
Romance and significant-other. What does a fulfilled relationship look like? Is it even a priority to you? If youāre already fulfilled (a 10 out of 10) then it doesnāt matter. But if youāre not fulfilled, what is it specifically? Do you need more time to spend together? Does it mean being more intimate? Are you growing together? Again, you want to give yourself a score in this area from 1 to 10.
Family and friends. This is a big one. I like to talk about family rhythms and traditions. This is super important and valuable to me. Some of the things you might want to consider: Are you having dinner together? Are you having get-togethers (e.g. Christmas dinners or holiday dinners)?
If not family, then friends. What rhythms and traditions do you have with friends? Do you go on annual trips? Are there events that you and your friends go to regularly? Relationships are about rhythms. Just like how we have relationships with you, as our clients.
I like to have calls with clients on a regular rhythmic basis. Thatās how we develop and grow. We provide values for each otherās relationships. Thatās how we provide value to you guys. I constantly invest time and effort into relationships with my clients for growth. Family, friends and relationships are all about investing and rhythms.
Health. Basically, freedom from disease is health. But, do you just want freedom from disease? Or do you want to optimize your health? Then, you have to give yourself a score on what ideal health and fitness is for you.
How would you measure it? Is it to have an X percent body fat? Is it to weigh a certain amount? Or lose X amount of pounds? Is it objective or subjective? An objective measurement would be a number. But subjective measurement, would be for example: One of my personal things for health and fitness (and to be optimal) is to feel confident every time Iād take off my shirt.
It doesnāt have anything to do with a scale. I just want to be able to take off my shirt and feel confident. Itās very subjective to me, but itās something I want out of my health and fitness.
Career! Are you doing work thatās important to you or the community? Are you growing personally or professionally? Are you proud of the company you work for? These are some things to think about in terms of career fulfillment on a scale from 1 to 10.
Personal Development. What does personal development mean to you? Does it mean reading a book? Does it mean learning new things regularly? Are you developing new skills? Do you want to learn a new skill every year or every quarter? Do you feel like youāre growing as a person? Again, how fulfilled are you in terms of personal development?
Fun and recreation! Do you have hobbies or interests you do regularly? Iāll tell you a story about this one. Iāve been struggling with this for a really long time. Iāve come to the conclusion that I donāt have hobbies nor interests other than work and business. I love it so much. If you see what I look at on my YouTube at night, itās all health and fitness related-stuff.
Iām fortunate that what I do for a living is what I love to learn about as well. So it’s kind of like one in the same. I can always ingest or consume more and more information on fitness and health just because I love it so much.
I used to play sports but now I just work out to optimize my health so I feel good. I guess thatās a hobby. But my interests are learning more about fitness, health and personal development.
Lastly, Physical Environment! Something the pandemic has brought people to realize is their living situation. Do you like where you live (The design? Is it clean?). If youāve watched Marie Kondoās show on Netflix, she goes on about making sure that your environment is right. I think thereās some power in that. Youāre going to want to make the place you live in nice because youāre going to be looking at it all the time.
Once youāve figured it all out, youāll rate each category on a scale from 1 to 10. Look at your wheel. The goal is not to have a huge wheel with a 10 out of 10 for all the categories. What you want is a balanced wheel.
The worst thing to have is to have one category to be super low because that creates a bumpy ride. We want a smooth ride. So, pick one to three areas to focus on. Typically, those are the lowest because those are going to cause the most bumps in your life.
Letās say itās āmoneyā which youāre not fulfilled in. Spend some time on that and start setting goals in terms of budgeting and fulfillment. Maybe itās your āhouseā (physical environment). Maybe you donāt like the way something looks. Take some time to fix that. Or maybe itās āfitness and healthā. Then take time this quarter to focus on that.
Again, pick one to three things, create S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goalsl for them and give yourself a timeline of 90 days. Thatās the cycle that I like because a lot can change. Thereās a lot of power in doing things in 90 days.
Thereās a great book I recommend to a lot of people. Itās called the 12-Week Year. You start thinking of your life, not in months, but in weeks. A lot can change and a lot of things move a lot faster. Imagine when you tighten a deadline!
This is kind of like a āNew Yearās Resolution Revampā. A lot of people wait until the end of the year to make New Yearās resolutions by setting a huge long goal for the year. Six months go by and nothing changes halfway through the year. You need to tighten the timeline.
Iām going to share with you the Dragon Journal. This is a tool that I use with the team. Itās a journal that we use with all these exercises (The Wheel of Life etc.). Itās daily and nightly journaling and quarterly planning. Let me know if you want the Dragon Journal.
In this episode I’ll be sharing how to set goals. Listen if:
👊 Have SMARTER goals to acheive more
⚖ Why there is NO such thing as life balance
✅ How to create the LIFE you deserve
If you’d like to purchase the dragon journal, email markham@fightfitbootcamps.com