Goal Specificity
SMART goals are goals that have the following qualities: they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Ensuring that any goal you set has these qualities will make it easier to achieve. This post is part of a five-part series, there will be one article on each of the five letters!
The term 'specific' in the SMART goal setting acronym can be interpreted in two ways: goals should be specific as opposed to general, and goals should be specific to the individual setting them. In this post I will go over why both terms are important.
1. Specific vs. General Goals
Goals should be specific in the sense that there should be an explicit definition of success. Having a solid definition of success will make planning to achieve a goal easier. Consider the following examples of specific/nonspecific goals.
- Be healthy.
This goal is nonspecific. If you set this goal, how will you know when you've achieved it? As time passes, how will you know if you’re progressing towards it? What type of workouts will help you advance to becoming healthy? Without any specific desired outcome, planning for a goal will prove quite difficult.
- Improve leg strength and cardiovascular capacity
This goal is more specific. We know that we can measure leg strength through a squat or a leg press, and we can measure cardiovascular fitness by running for a specific distance or time. Because we know how to measure these things, progress can be assessed at any point during the year. We also know that to improve leg strength we will need to include resistance training into our workouts, and to improve cardiovascular capacity, cardio will need to be added.
You can see from this brief example how setting specific goals will make achieving them a clearer process.
2. Self-Specific Goals
Goals should also be specific to oneself. This means that the goal should have some type of relevance to you specifically. Here is a quick checklist of questions to help determine if the goal is specific to your life:
- Will achieving this goal improve my quality of life? How?
- Why am I setting this goal?
- How will my life be different once I reach this goal?
- Is this goal addressing something that needs improvement or building on a previous achievement?
While these points seem obvious, it helps to answer each of them every time you set a goal. If answering these questions is difficult, it may be a good idea to re-evaluate your goal. You may find that weight loss isn't exactly going to make a big impact on your quality of life, and it's perfectly fine to re-organize your health-related priorities at any time. The more important your goal is to you, and the more related it is to other aspects of your life, the more likely you are to pursue it.
SMART goals are goals that have the following qualities: they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Ensuring that any goal you set has these qualities will make it easier to achieve. This post is part of a five-part series, there will be one article on each of the five letters!
The term 'specific' in the SMART goal setting acronym can be interpreted in two ways: goals should be specific as opposed to general, and goals should be specific to the individual setting them. In this post I will go over why both terms are important.
1. Specific vs. General Goals
Goals should be specific in the sense that there should be an explicit definition of success. Having a solid definition of success will make planning to achieve a goal easier. Consider the following examples of specific/nonspecific goals.
- Be healthy.
This goal is nonspecific. If you set this goal, how will you know when you've achieved it? As time passes, how will you know if you’re progressing towards it? What type of workouts will help you advance to becoming healthy? Without any specific desired outcome, planning for a goal will prove quite difficult.
- Improve leg strength and cardiovascular capacity
This goal is more specific. We know that we can measure leg strength through a squat or a leg press, and we can measure cardiovascular fitness by running for a specific distance or time. Because we know how to measure these things, progress can be assessed at any point during the year. We also know that to improve leg strength we will need to include resistance training into our workouts, and to improve cardiovascular capacity, cardio will need to be added.
You can see from this brief example how setting specific goals will make achieving them a clearer process.
2. Self-Specific Goals
Goals should also be specific to oneself. This means that the goal should have some type of relevance to you specifically. Here is a quick checklist of questions to help determine if the goal is specific to your life:
- Will achieving this goal improve my quality of life? How?
- Why am I setting this goal?
- How will my life be different once I reach this goal?
- Is this goal addressing something that needs improvement or building on a previous achievement?
While these points seem obvious, it helps to answer each of them every time you set a goal. If answering these questions is difficult, it may be a good idea to re-evaluate your goal. You may find that weight loss isn't exactly going to make a big impact on your quality of life, and it's perfectly fine to re-organize your health-related priorities at any time. The more important your goal is to you, and the more related it is to other aspects of your life, the more likely you are to pursue it.
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