Ok, the title is a stretch.

I intended to imply that you should strive to reach your goal, and have the fortitude to persevere. (Google “mettle”)

You may have inferred, however, that Josh has lost it and can’t come up with a decent pun for a title.

So let’s just agree that implications and inferences aside you should get from that title what I meant to say and not necessarily what I said.

Agreed?

Moving on…

I have talked about the importance of goals before (Click Here), but given the time of year I thought I would revisit the topic.

Be a jerk, Josh says it’s cool

Goals are exceptionally important – and an effective tool for improvement in all areas when used properly.  But conversely, goals can be as useless as a pile of turds.

For instance, “Maintenance” is a crappy goal.   I really hate that one.  High turd factor.

“Lose weight”, slightly better, but still not good enough to be called a goal in my book. Less turdish though.

For a goal to be truly effective and worth the paper you write it on (and you will) it needs to be a SMART goal.

Specific,
Measurable,
Achievable or Action-Oriented,
Realistic,
Time Bound

Clever right?  (FYI – I did not come up with this, but it is very cool.)

It’s time to re-set your thinking.

So let’s break this down..

Specific
Saying you want to “lose weight” or “make more money” is too general.  How much weight?  How much money?  It should be like this:  “ I want to lose 20 pounds”, “I want to increase my income by $1000 per month”.  Simple & specific.

Measurable
This should be covered at least in part by being specific.  When you are specific you should be able to measure it.  For example “ I want to appreciate my wife everyday”  might seem specific, but how do you measure that?  How about “I want to tell my wife I love her everyday” – that you can measure.  (And if you forget she will remind you.)

Achievable or Action-Oriented
Achievable and Action oriented means there must be real steps you can take to reach that goal. Real steps that you know (or know you can find out). For example if your goal is to quit smoking, then there are real definable steps you can take to make that happen. For instance – Step one:  Don’t smoke.  Step 2: Freak out about Step one.  Well, hopefully you would have better steps in mind.

Realistic
Be real.  It has to be achievable.  If you say “I want to make 100 million dollars this year” that might be specific, measurable, and there might even be steps to get you on that road,  but please – realistic?  I think not. (If it is, Hi, my name  is Josh I would like to be your best friend).

Time Bound
This is a big one. Set a deadline.  Going back to “I want to lose 20 lbs” – when?  In a year?  Next year?  In the next 10 years?  Set a deadline and stick to it.  “I want to lose 20 pounds by March 1st.”  Bing0 – now that’s a goal.

I recommend people ALWAYS have a goal.  When you reach a goal make a new one.

Got one?  THEN GET ONE!

Preferably a few.  And though I am a fitness dude this is not to be used exclusively for fitness goals.  It can be related to all aspects of your life – financial, romantic, educational – whatever.

I have made a PDF for you guys to help you out.  There is room for 4 goals, but write as many as you want so long as they follow the guidelines above.

Personal Goal Sheet

Right Click Here

It’s 2010 – time to get off your ass and take action.  This goal sheet can serve as your “to-do” list.

Joshua Carter, CPT The Body Transformation Expert Carter Fitness http://carterfitness.com 818-337-6175

PS: I now have a new goal (a few actually) and I will share them with you.  I actually recommend you make yours public.  Post a comment below with your new goal – make it real by making it public.

PPS:  Special thanks to trainer extraordinaire Casey Katzman who supplied the goal sheet and gave me the idea for this post.