Don’t Let SMART Fitness Goals Stop You From Dreaming Big

If you have big goals for 2023 (big deadlifts, marathons, body size changes, etc.), I hope you haven’t turned them into limited pass/fail box checks for SMART goals.but i conduct I hope you have set SMART goals to guide you through the process. Please let me explain.

Why SMART Goals are different from Dream Goals

SMART goals have long been heralded as goals.set life hacks, but the truth is they Designed for managers to set company quotas (The original ‘A’ stood for ‘assignable’ to an employee).

In today’s fitness world, SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Collectively, this means setting deadlines when you plan to achieve certain measures of results. In other words, I turned it into a pass/fail test.

and because you don’t want to failure In that pass/fail test, creating good SMART goals means setting the bar low. Goals must be achievable, remember? Thinking about it that way, SMART goals are not the goal In the sense of the word I think of, in the sense of big dreams that inspire us to keep moving forward. But you can use them as benchmarks to reach what I call dream goals.

How to dream big while still setting process goals

I’ve written before that SMART goals are overratedbut to be honest they make an excellent framework process the goalThe goal of the process is something we have full control over. By definition, achievable. for example, Going for a run three times a week is the goal of the process. Eating vegetables at every meal is the goal of the process. The goal of the process is to follow a program that tells you to do 5 sets of 8 repetitions of deadlifts every Tuesday.

The point of process goals is to provide a path to the big dream goal. I like to think of it this way: Your dream goal is a big mountain far away. You know it’s there, but how far it is or how difficult the journey is. I don’t know exactly how. The goal of the process is to keep you on the road to that mountain. luggage packing. Put one foot in front of the other. Or, as Peloton instructor Tunde Oyeneyin puts it (just before telling me you should beat your score on the last burpee circuit). Standards hold us accountable. ” You need both.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to dream big. It’s possible to say, “This year he’s a minute off his 5K race time,” but it doesn’t have to be limited to that. “He’ll run a 5K in 20 minutes” is a big dream (especially if you’re currently running 30 minutes or so), but it’s well worth the effort. The road to climb the mountain may be long, but it cannot be walked.

How SMART Goals Can Support Your Dream Goals

Now let’s create a chart for that path. Like any trip up a distant mountain, you don’t know what the road will be like until you get there. So focus on what’s in front of you and what you can control.

Here’s an example of how SMART process goals can guide you toward dreaming big. may or may not Be achievable. Let’s say you’re a runner and you want to be a faster runner. You can plan trips such as:

Dream Goal: 20- Run1 minute or more 5K (someday)

Process goals:

1. Build your cardio foundation by running a few more miles each week until you’re running 20 miles a week.
2. Run a time trial on the track as a benchmark and to be able to calculate your training pace.
3. follow us Hal Higdon Intermediate 5K Training Program Exactly as written.
4. I’m running a Big Local 5K in my city this spring.
5. Write down your time, assess your strengths and weaknesses, and determine a new set of process goals for summer training.

Can you see each of these being SMART goals?

• They are all specific enough to know what to do each day. (You’ve given your mileage number and selected a specific training program, but of course you’re choosing your own training program.)
• Measurable: YAfter completing miles, check the number of workouts programmed.
• Achievable: YYou have complete control over whether you go out for a run or not. (Obviously you please do not If you have full control over this because of your living circumstances, create another set of goals that take those circumstances into account. )
• Related: TGuys, you’re on your way to becoming a faster runner at 5K distances.
• They are timed: FFrom this framework, you can sit down and schedule everything on your calendar for the next three to four months. (Work backwards from the date of the race to find the starting point of your training program.)

These goals define the process and require reevaluation. Do you want to train for a marathon because you like the idea of ​​base building opportunities and side quests? You may find that other goals conflict with this goal. Perhaps you want to take a summer break, do more paddleboarding, and get back to running training in the fall?

This way you can dream big but know you’re always on the road to those big goals, at least for as long as you want them to. Even if you don’t get there, you’ve at least built a nice rocket ship. road.