1. Lesson 3 Skills for Healthy Living Goal Setting 3 Skills for Healthy Living Goal Setting L E S S O N

2. Journal Question When was the last time you set a goal for yourself that you worked hard to achieve? What was the goal? Did you achieve it?

3. Use the SMART Formula Specific means including very specific things you want to accomplish. Measurable means ensuring you can easily evaluate the goal to see if you have accomplished it. Attainable means being challenging but possible given the resources available. Realistic means that you can reasonably expect to accomplish it if you put in the time and effort. Timely means that the goal can be achieved in the time allotted and that the goal is right for you at this time.

4. Choose a Few Goals at a Time Trying to do too much often leads to failure. Choosing a few goals at a time can help you to be successful.

5. Focus on Modifying Behavior When Setting Short-Term Goals Short-term goals can be accomplished in days or weeks. When setting short-term goals it is best to focus on changing your behaviors. An example is eating five fruits and vegetables every day for two weeks.

6. Over the Long Term You Can Focus on the Process and the Product Long-term goals take months or even years. Product goals are outcomes that result from changing the process (behavior). Consider process goals: a behavior such as resistance training for several months. Consider product goals: changing what you can do such as performing 25 push-ups.

7. Put Your Goals in Writing Writing down a goal represents a personal commitment and increases the chances that you will meet that goal.

8. Know Your Reasons for Setting Your Goals Those who set goals for reasons other than their own personal improvement often fail. Ask yourself why when setting goals. Make sure you are setting goals for yourself based on your own needs and interests.

9. Self-Assess Periodically and Keep Logs Doing self-assessments will help you set your goals and determine whether you have met them. Keeping logs will help you determine whether you have met your goals. Focus on improvement, working toward goals slightly higher than your current self-assessment results.

10. Reward Yourself Achieving a personal goal is rewarding. You feel good. Congratulate yourself for your accomplishment.

11. Revise if Necessary If you do find that your goal is too difficult to accomplish, don’t be afraid to revise the goal. It is better to revise your goal than to quit because you did not reach an unrealistic goal.

12. Consider Maintenance Goals Improvement is not always necessary. Once you reach the highest level of change, setting a goal of maintenance can be a good idea.