Set SMART Goals for the New Year

As we all know, the new year brings in a clean slate often leading to people making important goals and choices they hope to see come true this year. In our office, we are excited for what 2020 will bring us, and we anticipate better health for our patients. We are constantly looking for ways to improve as individuals and as an office so that we could better serve our community. With this in our sights, we don’t go into the new year blindly. We plan, we set goals and we figure out what’s necessary to reach them.

An acronym that has been useful for goal setting is S.M.A.R.T. Following such an acronym may be useful for you in order to set goals that you can achieve this year. Often enough people fall off their resolutions, usually by February because there is no clear direction or vision with what they’re trying to achieve. Setting SMART goals makes things a lot clearer. Check out what making a SMART goal means:

S – SPECIFIC 

BE SPECIFIC about what you want to achieve. The goal must be broken down into as much detail as possible. A good way to do this is to answer with the 5Ws 1H: 

Who is involved?

What do you specifically want to achieve?

Where can this be done?

When do you want this to be done by?

Why do you want to achieve this goal?

How are you going to go about achieving this? 

M – MEASURABLE 

How are you going to quantify your results? How are you going to measure progress? How are you going to know when your goal is achieved? 

A - ACCOUNTABILITY 

How will you keep yourself accountable for your progress? Are you going track your progress via a journal or app? Are you going to share your goals and progress with someone else? Are you going to reward yourself somehow when goals are being met? 

R – REALISTIC 

Set goals that you know are possible to achieve. It’s good to aim high, but make sure they’re not impossible based on your resources, your commitments/expectations, your time available, etc.

T – TIME-SENSITIVE 

Set a time-frame for when you hope to achieve your goal. How long should it take you to actually accomplish it?

Make an effort to set meaningful goals for the New Year, especially when it comes to your health! We get the added benefit of seeing people improve on their health, especially because we get to help them set reasonable expectations for their care. Chiropractic has become a wonderful catalyst for our patients to help them have their healthiest year yet! If you have any questions or would like to consult with one of your Mississauga Chiropractors today, please contact us at (905)821-4951.