First introduced in 1981, SMART goals are used by many people today to achieve anything from healthy eating habits to becoming a successful business person. Setting Specific goals where success is Measureable, Attainable, and Reasonable for you to achieve, while also being able to accomplish the goal in a specific amount of Time, is SMART. As with anything else in life, you also have to be flexible. As you gain experience in attempting to achieve a specific goal, feel free to modify. For example, you may find out that what you thought was reasonable is really not. Or that it may take more time than you originally thought.
Earlier this year, I signed on to do one of those obstacle course races that are quickly becoming more and more popular these days. I realized that as I get older, the more important it is for me to exercise in order to maintain good health. I readily admit that although I like to be healthy, I do not like to exercise. I need to set goals around exercising. I also need some sort of motivation to exercise, so I signed up to do a Spartan Race. The back story is that I have previously signed up and ran ran the Adventure 5k, but did not train for it. It didn’t look like something I needed to train for. I play in a basketball league every winter and felt like that was enough for a simple 5k. (I am grateful for good genes.)
Also, I was signed up by my brother to do a previous Spartan Race two years ago. I borrowed my brother’s exercise video that required six days of over one hour of exercise routines each week. I lasted a month. The good news came when the hurricane visited our state and cancelled the race. The following year I requested my rain check be postponed until this year because I was in a wedding ceremony the same weekend. So here I was at the beginning of this year, third chance to run the Spartan Race, already paid for, and SMARTer than before.
I purchased the sequel to my brother’s exercise video and with the knowledge of my previous experience, set a more reasonable goal to exercise only three to four times per week. The program is supposed to last 90 days, but I made it 120 days by spreading it out and even skipping routines where appropriate. Something is better than nothing, right?
This weekend I will race over 3 miles and 15 obstacles, through water, fire, and mud. It will be a test of strength, endurance, and will. I am confident that I will succeed. I used SMART goals, consistently re-evaluating them these past four months to reach a fitness level that will allow me to compete in one of the tougher obstacle races out there. My goal is to finish in under an hour. I will be racing with a friend that is a runner. As she motivates me through the running, I will motivate her through the obstacles. I know she has better endurance than me, so my second goal is to finish beside her. I believe that I have a strong enough will to succeed.
Here’s to living healthy and strong, and maintaining goals to stay that way.
Enjoy Life.
Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP
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