It pays to be smart when it comes to... GOAL SETTING

How has 2021 been for you so far? If it has left you feeling adrift, having been unable to follow through on your new year’s resolutions, don’t panic: Arusha life coach Aminah Burch is here with a guide on how to set and stick to goals that will ensure you finish off the year strong.

There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." No matter what your goals or aspirations, or how behind you feel you are in reaching them, there's still now to begin bringing them into your reality.

If you did set goals or resolutions on January 1st and have let themslide since then, mid-year is a good time to check in with yourself. You can ask yourself questions like:

• “Is where I am and what I’m doing now where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing by this point of the year?”

• “What are the gaps I need to close in order to move forward along my desired path in life this year?”

• “Were my 2021 goals and resolutions SMART – that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely?”

• “How can I break my big goals down into smaller, more actionable steps to make sure I can accomplish my 2021 goals by the end of the year?”

• “What are some personal habits I need to overcome to be able to bring my goals into my reality?”

The answers to those questions will help you to determine what all you need to do to make the rest of the year the best of the year (if it hasn’t been already).

Plan ahead - Take steps to achieve your goals

The importance of SMART goal-setting

When you set SMART goals, you create for yourself an outline that will help you understand the why's and how's of your goals. Instead of shooting in the dark towards them, you can properly aim yourself at a future you’d always imagined, and more than likely make it there.

How to set SMART goals

In order to set a SMART goal, you need to take a broad goal and make it specific. For example, let’s say you want to lose weight. If you set out to lose weight, how do you know when you’ve finally achieved that goal? How long are you going to giveyourself; the whole year, or will youset milestones throughout the year tosee what’s working and what isn’t?

How will you define “lose weight”? Will it be to lose fat and tone your muscles, or will you be okay with gaining more muscle? An example of a SMART weight loss goal would look something like this:

I will decrease my Body Mass Index (BMI) from X to Y in Z months.

I will record all new activities in relation to this goal, so I can have a good idea of what’s working and what’s not.

Likewise, I will check in on this goal every month by calculating my new BMI.

Furthermore, I will have achieved this goal if my BMI is Y by XYZ date. Tools I will use to help keep me on track are: A, B, & C.

Hopefully that example gave you a good idea of what a SMART goal looks like, and how you can create one yourself. If you still need more examples, there are lots of resources online to help you out!

No matter what your goals or aspirations, or how behind you feel you are in reaching them, there’s still now to begin bringing them into your reality

The importance of long-term and short-term goals

In order to get the most out of your organized life, it’s important to set long-term, as well as short-term goals.Think of long-term goals as the big picture of your life.

With the long-term goals in place, you will be better able to set short-term goals that will make reaching those long-term goals easier. Short-term goals can be simple, such as aiming to increase your daily water intake by 500ml a month for six months, until you can comfortably drink three litres a day. Or they can be associated with along-term goal, such as home ownership, with an example of saving 20 per cent of your pay check every month for a year to be used for a down payment.

Breaking down bigger goals into smaller goals and action steps

Have you ever stood in front of a wild, messy room you had to clean, and thought to yourself, “I don’t even know how to get started, let alone finish!” Feelings of overwhelm andanxiety wash over you as you begin topick up dirty socks from the chaos.

If you approach your goals like that, it’s a surefire way to get stuck in the middle and give up. The best way to approach your goals is to examine how to execute them, and how long those executions will take. Bigger goals, especially those long-term goals, will need to be broken down into smaller steps.

Weight loss goals - It's important to keep track of your progress

Let’s go back to the SMART weight loss goal example. That goal, broken down into smaller goals and action steps, might look like:

August 2021:

Week 1: Start weight loss goal-get accurate weight and height measurements to calculate BMI; hire a dietitian/nutritionist/personal trainer to help create a diet plan based on my unique goals and body type; hire a personal trainer to create a workout plan.

Week 2: Overcome workout and new diet woes - practice proper postworkout techniques for less muscle soreness and check in with their effectiveness by using pain rating; reward myself for eating 70% of my diet plan - work towards getting to 80% next week…

November 2021:

Week 16: Monthly milestone check-in- measure BMI; work with personal trainer to create more advanced workout plan if they determine I’m plateauing; rotate foods in diet plan.

Staying the course and keeping motivated

When you’re setting goals and actively setting out to achieve them, you’re overcoming aspects of yourself that are resistant to change. We feel safe when things are the same as always, but in order to reach heights we’ve only imagined, we have to exit our comfort zones and see our future selves and situations in new, exciting ways.

As a life coach, I’ve guided my clients to see their goals in this way. The most effective method I’ve used to help them stay motivated is to remind them of how far they’ve come up until that point. It creates a kind of momentum to help keep you moving forward.

What if you don’t have a life coach? You can still keep detailed records of your accomplishments. If you set aside time each month or mile stone to look back on what you’ve accomplished, you’ll be wowed.

Another way my clients have stayed motivated is by rewarding themselves for accomplishing an action step (or more) every week. Let’s say you want to network more,but you’re an introvert. As long as you’re already eating healthy, and you’ve connected with five new people by the end of the week, maybe you reward yourself with a pastry. Yum.

There are also habit and goal tracking apps that I recommend to my clients, and use myself. A few I recommend are:

• Remente (iOS and Android)

• Flora (iOS and Android)

• Forest (iOS and Android)

Lastly, something that helps keep me motivated is remembering to enjoy the journey. While reaching goals is an amazing show of will power and “mind over body”, enjoying the feels and thrills of actively changing behaviors and habits to ones that are more effective for, and reflective of, the life I want to live encourages me to keep going.

I’ll leave you with a short, but powerful, quote: “A goal is a dreamwith a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill.

About Aminah

Aminah Burch splits her time between life and business coaching and web development. She has a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, and is working towards receiving her International Federation of Coaching (ICF) certification. She serves English speakers in Tanzania, as well as a global online client base. For more information, or to set up a chemistry connection call to see how Aminah can help you, visit coachaminah.com