S:  Specific

What do you want to achieve?  I like to get clear about this. It’s easier to start small and straightforward practice setting and achieving goals.  Remember baby steps – all small steps in the right direction get you your dream. It could be a simple, specific goal like.   

I am the woman who shows up for herself on a yoga mat at least once a week.

I enjoy preparing and eating healthy food each week

I go outside for at least an hour a day

I earn $X per month

M: Measurable

How will you measure it? I.e., How will you know you have achieved it?

This involves paying attention to the result you are generating.  For example. You can easily measure or check if you turned up to that yoga class or nature walk you promised yourself.

If it’s a financial goal you need to check your bank accounts. 

Maybe you keep a food diary or take photos of your meals to measure or check the quality of your food choices (and notice how your food choices make you FEEL) 

As opposed to having a goal like being fitter and eating better, earn more, which is vague and tricky to measure.

A: Achievable

Is your goal achievable?  Is it achievable for me to go outside for an hour every day? Is it achievable for me to prioritise my self-care and schedule a yoga class or two a week?

If the answer is no, listen to that inner voice and tweak it so that it feels a little stretchy and achievable. Maybe outside every day seems isn’t always achievable, but three times a week is.

Remember, start small and grow that muscle of self-belief.

If you are setting financial goals. The first step is to get honest with yourself. How much do you realistically think you can earn?  There is no point in setting a lofty goal that you don’t believe you can grow into. You may want to start by chunking it down.

E.g.: If I want to earn a certain amount per month.  Calculate what does it equate to per week? What does it work out to per day? And consider what you need to do to make this happen.  Is it achievable? 

Whatever goal I am setting I like to ask myself, “ Is this achievable?” Do I know of others who have done this?  And then give myself a little assurance by getting real about where I am and what my next steps need to be to get me there within a set timeframe.  

Turn your goals into action steps. 

R:  Realistic

Realistically can I achieve this?  What are my next steps?  Make a plan. Schedule it and make it happen.  Be the person who shows up for themselves.

For me a big part of making my dreams a reality is by telling other people.  I know when I tell others I am committed to it.  I have skin in the game, then.  Note: I am mindful of who I tell – naysayers are not useful people to share dreams with – tell your cheerleaders!

An example of this is when I decided to paint the Yoga Circle building in Central Ave.

I got specific about the colours.  This helped me visualise it. Painting the entire building within the scope of last year did not feel achievable or realistic, but I knew I needed to take steps towards it or remain on the not to be actioned list. So I chunked it down to a smaller task of painting just the entrance.

Painting just the entrance enabled me to visualise what the whole building would be like, test out the skill of a painter, share my vision with a group of people who would share and support the vision. I chose the entrance on purpose as it was the first and the last thing people saw when they entered and left the building. There is power in the collective consciousness.  

The other thing having just the entrance painted did was that it “erked me, it niggled at me each time I arrived at Yoga Circle that there was such a mismatch in paint colours.  I did on purpose.  I wanted to push pain point and keep the dream of painting the building a reality as it could fall off the list. And it worked! as I type this, there is now a painter assigned to the task of painting the house, and all of a sudden, the goal of painting Yoga Circle feels real, and there is a time frame on the painter for the month of January 2022.

IT FEELS GOOD to share this goal with you. 

T: Timed

As the example above shows, having a time frame on your goal is essential, and you know this.  We need to schedule the time to make our dreams happen.  Or put a finish line on them; otherwise, they end up on the never, never list and doesn’t get done.

E: Exciting

Every goal you set should excite you in some way.  It should be motivating.

You may think that goals are motivating by their very nature, but this is not true. Many people set goals in what we call “away from” terms. For example, saying, “I want to lose weight, I want to stop binge eating, quit mindless scrolling, reduce my anxiety and not worry.  These goals are not as motivating as they could be because they all focus on LOSS… not GAIN.

Without a motivational, exciting component, it is easy to become frustrated and give up on goals. Which can lead to unhelpful thinking like ” I’m no good at goal setting, goal setting doesn’t work for me, I don’t set goals.”

There are many ways to add a motivational component to your goals. Essentially you need to connect to the heart of why you want to achieve the particular goal.

Maybe you want to stop binge eating and lose weight, so you can fit a particular outfit or feel lighter and more energetic. 

Maybe reducing your scrolling and anxiety and worrying less is really about being able to enjoy the present moment with your friends and family genuinely.

So, when you think about your goal, check it gives you the feel-good feels! And feel into it as often as you need you.

It will keep you going when things get tricky, and things do get tricky after all. It’s life. So apply some grace.

 Because we all make mistakes as we learn and grow.  It’s part of the process, and remember.