How SMART Goals Can Help You Achieve Better Health

By: Caitlin Boyd, NBC-HWC

At some point in your life, I am sure that you have heard of SMART goals. SMART goals are often used in the workplace, by coaches, motivational speakers and/or school. You may not be familiar with the term, but you have likely encountered this framework for goals. It’s so widespread because … it works. ​

It’s quite possible that even though you’ve heard about SMART goals, you might not actually understand how they work or the importance of them. By the end of this article you’ll know exactly how to establish SMART goals in your own life, as well as better understand how a health coach uses them with their clients. 

Let’s start by defining the S.M.A.R.T.  acronym:

Specific: Define exactly what it is you’re working on. It’s not vague, such as “I want to be fit.” Instead, It might be something more like “I would like to be more fit by running”.

Measurable: This helps with tracking progress. How will you know if you have achieved the goal if there is no metric attached? 

Action-based: Knowing the small steps you’ll take to achieve is helpful in guiding you to where you want to go. How can you break down the outcome goal into actionable steps? 

Realistic: Is this goal realistic for you, considering everything else you have going on in your life? Is it realistic geographically, monetarily, etc?

Time-bound: It’s important to have deadlines for your goals. When will you start? When will it end? Not having timeframes established, allows opportunity for your goal to slip to the bottom of your priority list. In most instances the goal will never actually get accomplished.

A SMART goal example:

This week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will run 1 mile in the morning before work to work on improving my cardio fitness level.

Now that you know what each letter stands for and their definition let’s dive into the WHY behind the importance of using SMART goals in achieving lasting results. 

SMART goals are for you if:

👉 Your daily habits are causing you to revolve instead of evolve

👉 You find that you are just going in circles instead of moving forward

Do you find that you’re in the same rut week after week, month after month, despite having a goal?

Lack of forward motion is discouraging and can make you feel hopeless. You know that there are some changes you want or need to make in your life. Maybe you’re hoping to experience less stress or maybe you have a chronic disease and your doctor has recommended lifestyle changes. ​

I feel you. I hear you. I see you.

Even as a health & wellness coach, I get frustrated when I haven’t been able to accomplish a goal. Negative self-talk hits and I tear myself apart for not achieving said goal.

​After I have thrown a million rocks at myself, I step back and take a moment to revisit the habit I wanted to change. I evaluate why I wasn’t successful. 

Do you have "ALL-or-NOTHING syndrome"? 

JOIN THE CLUB.  I suffer from ALL or NOTHING syndrome and it holds me back from progress. As I am unlearning this, I am discovering that balance in my life helps me thrive.

​When I make an all or nothing goal and it doesn’t work out, I tend to discover the goal required unrealistic habits for my life.

all-or-nothing syndrome holds me back from progress. 

When setting or revisiting goals, I ask myself these questions: 
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• How does the goal align with my values?
• What new habit will support this goal?
• What is my underlying motivation?
• Am I adopting a new habit for myself or to please others?​​

I often find myself needing to take my own advice.

Health coaches use SMART goals to help health seekers achieve their goals. Even though we use these all the time with our clients, it can be easy to forget that setting SMART goals in our own lives is just as important.

How does a health coach assist in this journey?​

As health coaches our goal is to help you navigate the change process. We are expert facilitators of change, ready to help guide you through the process.

​We help you dig deeper into understanding the why behind your desire to change. From there we can trigger motivation to help propel you forward as you make those small changes. 

Once we better understand the deeper why behind the desired change we can then build from there.

Like anything future-oriented, it all starts with a crystal clear vision. 

Together, we build a health vision. I like to think of it as a road map. A vision that is unique to the person you are, built upon YOUR values and character strengths. It’s important that this vision aligns with what matters most to you, or it will be very challenging to move forward in creating goals and sticking to them.

From there, we co-create your 3-month goals. 3-month goals are purposeful in the sense that it allows us to have a better understanding of what you’d like to be consistently doing 3-months from now. Developing 3-month goals helps bring perspective with the reminder that change takes time. 3-months allows for progress to be made without feeling overwhelmed by a much longer time frame.

I know you think I forgot about SMART goals. Never fear….I haven’t! Building the foundation first is so important. It’s crucial to make sure that you are on the right path and that the SMART goals are strategic in bringing you closer to your overall health vision. 

How SMART goals help you become the best version of yourself

During a session your health coach will ask:
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“What would you like to focus on this week?” or
“For your weekly goal(s) what would you like to focus on?”

Once that is known, the coach can help you turn the goal into a SMART goal.

​Are you ready to build a SMART goal on your own? Start by asking yourself these questions.

SPECIFIC: What is it specifically that I want to achieve? What is the behavior/action I want to be doing? How and when do I want to be doing said action/behavior?

MEASURABLE: How can I quantify this? What are the specific criteria? How will I know I have  succeeded with this goal? 

ACTION-BASED: What are small steps I can take to get there? What are the behaviors that I need to be doing to produce the desired outcome?

REALISTIC: How realistic is this for me at this time in my life? How willing am I to commit to this goal? Does this make sense for where I am in my life? Do I have all the tools and resources available to achieve this goal?

TIME-BOUND: How long will I do this? What is my deadline for achieving this goal? 

It’s ACTION time!

Now that you understand the importance of SMART goals, how they are used in coaching, and how you can create your own SMART goals …  What would you like to achieve?

You now have a very valuable tool that you can use to accomplish whatever you want in your life. While this tool is very helpful, some people need more than a simple framework to elicit sustainable change. Sometimes that accountability piece, support, and guidance is necessary when the change is hard. 

This is where a health coach comes in.

Let’s CONNECT!

When you are ready to explore health change in your life, we have many board-certified health coaches to choose from in our directory. All of our coaches are trained in behavior change and SMART goals, and ready to help you succeed.
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I would love to connect with you and chat about how I can help you achieve better health. You can learn more about me here.

Better health starts with a connection. 

Caitlin Boyd
VHC, Co-Founder