[00:00:00] Hello, my friends, and welcome back to not another mindset show. Can you believe that this is the fourth time I’m recording this episode? I had microphone issues when I originally recorded this, um, a month ago, and that was frustrating. And this time around, I’m doing it again, because I ended up losing the video files that we had from a month ago.

So I should be able to do this episode in my sleep at this point. And honestly, I already probably could because we’re, it’s an acronym and acronyms are easier to remember. So, um, I’m not gonna keep harping on this like, Oh my god, we lost our video files and I’m having to re record three episodes type of things.

You don’t need to hear it in every episode, but, It’s just where I’m at. It’s just where I’m at. So, [00:01:00] uh, we are talking. Smart goal framework. Hmm. Everybody loves a smart goal framework. If you have not heard of the smart goal framework before, like, I’d actually be surprised. Really? I feel like it’s just infiltrated any goal setting, motivation, personal development, be successful in your life type of space.

Um, and I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. Especially when we are talking about Health behavior change, which if you’re new to this podcast, if you’re new to my content, that is the majority of what you’re going to get here. Everything that I do is a combination of psychology and mindset with health behavior.

So fitness, exercise, nutrition. Um, I am trained as a, uh, I’m a nutrition and fitness [00:02:00] coach, and I’ve been doing that for almost a decade. And I also have a PhD in psychology, and I specifically researched in my PhD how your mindset plays a role in your health and fitness behaviors. So we’re just doing a whole ton of that all of the time.

Um, yeah. And the SMART goal framework was, oh man, actually, this is something maybe I should have looked up before the episode. Um, I don’t know how long it’s been around for, but a very long time. And, I mean, for a good reason. It gives you some very basic tenets to operate off of when you’re going to set a goal.

So SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time. Bound. So that is the OG framework. Again, don’t hate it. Do think it could be better, especially if we’re talking about health and fitness behaviors and behavior change. Um, so the version that I [00:03:00] have created that I’m gonna talk through with you today is the Smart TUR goal framework.

And this is something that I teach inside the Health Mindset Coaching certification, and. is really, really valuable when it comes to leveraging the science of behavior change with your clients. And that is where my framework, the Smarter Goal framework, is based off of, is essentially the research that we have when it comes to behavior change.

So what I will say, is there are aspects of the SMART goal framework that I am keeping, there are some that I’m swapping out, and then we are adding a couple more at the end. So walking you through these, here we have S is for specific. So that is the original S, and we are keeping the original S because I do like keeping them.

That a lot. Um, and per the research too, the more specific you can get with your goals, the better, because if it’s [00:04:00] feeling sort of like this vague, Oh, I just want to get healthier type of goal, or I just want to scale my business type of goal. How do you actually like operate from there? Like, what are the goal oriented actions that you need to take?

It’s, it’s hard to say, right? So the more specific. You can get the more you’re able to have action oriented goals, such as, um, I want to drink 100 ounces of water every day versus I want to feel healthier, right? So we like specific. I’m going to keep specific. Specific was from the original framework and I’m keeping it for the updated framework.

Same with measurable. And I really, really actually like measurable. So we’re starting off very strong, honestly, with the original SMART goal framework. So M is for measurable. What you measure, my friends, you can improve. And it is difficult, if not impossible, to [00:05:00] know if you are making progress, if you are not making progress.

Measuring your, your progress. So, of course, with some things, right? If you’re trying to scale your business, you’re trying to lose weight. What if you notice you’re losing weight or if you notice there’s more money in your bank account, then obviously you’re making progress. But before you start actually seeing those really visible outcomes, it can be hard to know if you’re on the right track.

So we need to be paying attention to things like Other health behaviors or in the case of business, like hitting metrics and KPIs on the way to that revenue target, right? And it doesn’t always have to be like something different either. If, if you’re looking to lose weight and you know, it’s been six months and wow, suddenly you are, you’re fitting into a different size of dress.

Obviously, something is happening or you’re seeing visual differences in your body composition. Obviously, something is happening, but if you’re not measuring your body weight, if you’re not paying attention to other aspects along the way, like it’s going to take a while [00:06:00] before you see some of that measurable progress, right?

Like actual clear visual progress and same thing for your business. It’s not, it’s going to take a while before you can notice, wow, we, we did better this year than we did last year. That’s going to take a year. So what can you measure? In between to make sure that you are actually making progress before you actually reach the outcome that you’re looking for.

Because we want to know whether or not that’s happening and if you, can you imagine just going, going about a weight loss journey, going about a business growth journey, and just having no idea if you’re actually doing the right things or not to push you forward towards that goal if the, if the needle is actually moving.

Right? So let’s measure things, please. Let’s get specific and let’s measure things. So when we’re setting goals, we want to make sure that it is measurable and that it is specific. We like those. We’re keeping that from the original framework. And then we’re going to start making some changes. So the original [00:07:00] framework has attainable as the A.

So S M A. Not me actually making the letter a with my hands. For those of you who are watching YouTube, it’s like, why are, why are we doing this? I’m like about to do the YMCA here. So A is for attainable in the original framework. And I don’t really like this one. Because if we were to consistently operate from a place and only go after goals that we feel like are absolutely attainable for us, then we are likely going to sell ourselves short.

And people do do this. There’s actually, um, a concept in psychology called the taking strengths for granted effect. And it is this idea that as human beings, we are not very good at recognizing our own strengths. We’re not very good at recognizing our own achievements and things like that. So when you’re asking someone set a goal that only feels attainable for you, [00:08:00] people are going to sell themselves short.

They just are. So instead, What I like, instead of trying to just like set a goal that is attainable for us, let’s set goals that are additive, because we know from the research, we should just be more concerned about how goal oriented actions are adding to our lives. instead of seeing whether or not they’re attainable for us.

So that is a big thing. How can we spin this goal into something that’s, wow, it’s really adding something to my life? Because if we feel like it’s adding versus, you know, maybe taking something away, we are going to be more likely to want to do it. Makes sense, right? Especially when it comes to health and fitness.

If you are taking things away, if you’re restricting, that’s not going to feel good and it’s not going to feel like something you want to actually pursue. So. So, bringing us back here, specific, measurable, and I would say additive instead of attainable. The next one is R. [00:09:00] So the original framework has realistic, which I’m just like frustrated in general with this because tell me how realistic and attainable are not almost the exact same thing.

So number one, this is redundant. So I’m not a fan of that. Um, and again, you could very likely be. Selling yourself short and not knowing exactly what you’re capable of, your depiction of your capabilities might be skewed. Especially if you’re entering into something, like, new territory, right? You’re probably already thinking, like, man, am I even cut out for this?

So if we’re If you’re seeking to only achieve goals that are what we think is realistic, like, that’s probably not going to be super helpful. In fact, there’s actually some research on weight loss maintenance. And in that research, researchers have determined that [00:10:00] setting unrealistic goals for weight loss is actually not a very important factor when it comes to whether or not someone’s going to maintain their weight loss.

So. The whole phrase of like, shoot for the moon and land amongst the stars is very true in this sense. So, even if it feels a little bit unrealistic or a little bit unattainable, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially when we’re talking about, um, like weight loss from this research that I was just speaking to.

But, in general, I do think Obviously, like, please don’t go out setting, like, ridiculous goals, like, I’m gonna make a million dollars this month even though I have only ever made a thousand dollars in my business, like, obviously, right? So, like, within reason, I would say, but instead of, again, just focusing on is it realistic or not, I would rather you focus on whether or not the goal is rewarding.

And what I mean by rewarding [00:11:00] is, intrinsically rewarding. And intrinsic motivation is really the, the quote unquote best kind of motivation you can have if you want to stick to something longterm and you want to be successful. And if something is intrinsically motivating, it is personally rewarding to you.

It’s something that you really enjoy. So we know from the research on motivation that that type of motivation is really helpful. So I want to squeeze that into this framework and kick out the realistic component. So at this point we have Um, in the new, smarter goal framework that I am spelling out for you here is S for specific, M for measurable, A for, oh my gosh, I’m even gonna forget, additive, I’m thinking about the old one and the new one, this is actually kind of hard to keep all [00:12:00] these different words in my head, and R is for, So the last two were ones that we are adding in, additive, rewarding, and we are swapping another one.

This last letter of the original SMART goal framework. T is for time bound. The number of times I have had conversations, and I’m sure you have too if you’re a health and fitness coach, which I know many of you are. How many conversations have you had with clients? New clients, prospective clients, where they want to have like a specific timeline.

I want to lose six, I want to lose 60 pounds in six months or whatever. You know, there’s, there’s always this, It’s this time bound thing. And I almost wonder if so much of that is like from this framework, like I, I actually don’t think it is. I think it’s just people wanting to know what’s going to happen.

And we don’t like uncertainty and we, we want to feel certain that we know exactly what’s going to happen. Especially if I’m going to hire a coach, tell me how long it’s going to [00:13:00] take before I reach my goals and then I will hire you. Um, and as a health and fitness coach, you know that it can be really hard to give people Specifically, we don’t necessarily know how their bodies are gonna respond to things, how things are going to go.

So it’s not fun to have to be like, yes, I can guarantee in six months which it’s really hard to do that. Right? And instead of time bound, especially when it comes to health and fitness goals, for that reason, I would prefer the word timely. And I say timely instead of time bound because timely, I think just means let’s look at where your current life is at, your stressors.

your schedule, and let’s use that information to set the goal. So it’s timely based on where you’re currently at, the baseline that you’re working from, what’s coming up in, in the coming, in the coming months that we can take into consideration, and then let’s set a goal from there. So rather than saying, yes, by six months, you should have lost X amount of weight.[00:14:00] 

It’s timely based on where you’re at. Okay, let’s look at the time right now and use that to set your goal. Since this is a goal setting framework, right? Um, that said, I love a good deadline. I love a good day. And in fact, I’m doing this right now. Um, as I’m recording this episode, I’m in the middle of a small diet phase.

I say small, cause I’m really like not trying to do anything really. Crazy. Um, and I have a photo shoot at the end of the summer. So to me, I’m like, Oh, this is kind of fun. It’s a fun challenge to have a deadline where I’m going to be a little bit leaner because I’m going to be in front of a camera and I’m going to use these photos for a long time going forward.

So, but that’s just fun for me. You know, it’s not a, a live or die thing. Health and fitness is such a big part of my lifestyle as it is. So I think plugging in some of those like fun deadlines and like mini challenges, if you will, are fine. And like, that’s. That’s actually really great for the goal that I have, but for you or for a client that you have, it may not be that beneficial.

So timely is really what [00:15:00] I think needs to be taken into consideration instead. Um, take into account where, where you’re currently at, where you’re, what your life looks like, what’s coming up, et cetera. And if you’re a coach, please make sure you’re doing that with a client. So, um, Where we’re at so far, specific, measurable, additive, rewarding, timely.

And that brings us to the end of smart. The word smart has now been spelt out, right? But we’re smarter. We’re smarter than that. So we’re adding an E and an R and E. is for efficacy. And this is such, such a, such an important concept in the world of behavior change. Self efficacy is a massive driver when it comes to sustained behavior change.

And with increased self efficacy, you’re able to continue working towards your goals in the face of obstacles. Self efficacy in general, This concept gets talked about incorrectly all of the time, and it’s really not just like, do you believe in your [00:16:00] ability to do something? And it’s more about, do you actually think that you can continue to do something in the face of setbacks, obstacles, challenges, etc.

And we know so, so, so much. that self efficacy is important if you want to sustain a behavior and eventually reach an outcome. So when you are crafting this goal that you’re going to work towards, we really want to be thinking about how we can incorporate self efficacy and cultivating self efficacy in In that goal setting process and like what that looks like.

So it may be also spending some time thinking about barriers that are going to come up. Things that are inevitably going to potentially set you back. Inevitably. Potentially. They’re inevitably on your way to reaching a goal, you are going to run into some difficulty, some hardship. Let’s not brush that under the rug.

Let’s talk about it and plan for it so that when it occurs, you can feel like [00:17:00] no problem. I got this. I can work through these things, or I at least have the tools at my disposal to work towards these things. And that’s going to cultivate self efficacy. It’s going to make you more likely to be successful as a health and fitness coach.

This should be A really, really, really, really big part of your coaching. You should be constantly looking to increase self efficacy in your clients and helping them do that. Which is hilarious because so many coaches are like, I already told them what to do and they’re not doing it. When the reality is, no, good coaching is, is helping them become more self efficacious so that they can do it.

And it’s not you just complaining that they’re not following the plan. Like, Oh my goodness, the number of coaches that just like, I want clients who are easy and are already motivated. And it’s like. Dude! People are coming to you because they’re not motivated, otherwise they wouldn’t freaking need you in the first place.

Anyway, I could go on and on. I have gone on and on. This is probably a conversation you’ve heard me have, have with you before. And I will get off my soapbox at that. And we will land on [00:18:00] our final letter, which is R, and that is for reverse engineering. And this is essentially just the idea of identifying the, the outcome that you are looking to achieve.

That your clients are looking to achieve and work backwards from there and you can start to set. smaller goals along the way to that longer term outcome. What’s really interesting about this is that there’s like a little bit of, um, mixed research results out there when it comes to the smaller goals, also known as sub goals.

So some research you will find says focus on that long term. Big, hairy, scary outcome goal. Something that’s like six months to a year into the future. You know, focus on that, make that your main focus, put it on your phone background, put it on sticky notes throughout your house. So you’re constantly focused on that, that outcome goal.

And that’s going to keep you motivated. Other research says, no, that’s not the case. Actually, we want to [00:19:00] focus on these like maybe month to month or week to week, like smaller goals. And so we’re like constantly. essentially achieving these smaller goals. And then suddenly we are at the outcome goal and wow, look at that.

Right. And there’s another researcher who actually recognized that there was this sort of like fight in, in the literature of like, focus on the long term outcome or focus on these, these smaller goals. So like, what’s, what’s the answer here if we have research to support both. So this researcher came in and what he found was that, you know, Actually, it’s more about the timing of things.

So if you have a goal that you’re looking to achieve and say, let’s, for all intents and purposes, just to make this explanation easy, achieve in a year. At the beginning, let’s say for the first three to six months, it’s not really a goal. beneficial for you to like hyper focus on that long term outcome because it’ll feel like every day when you’re doing things to work towards it that you’re barely making any progress that that long [00:20:00] term goal is still so freaking far away and everything you’re doing is just like sure i’m i’m making progress but man it really doesn’t feel like it right and that can be really I’m motivating.

So instead, during that earlier stage timeframe, it is more helpful to focus on smaller goals because now it feels like, Oh, I am clearly doing things. I’m clearly making progress that feels good. And it’s going to give you momentum to keep going. But then once you reach a certain point where you can really start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, say the six month mark, the eight month mark, along the way to that 12 month long goal, Again, I’m just using these numbers because they’re easy.

Then shifting your perspective to focusing on that long term outcome goal is actually more beneficial because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It feels more graspable, if you will. So shifting your focus to that long term outcome and like focusing on that and not shifting your so much heavily focusing on maybe the week to week or month to month goals can [00:21:00] be the more motivating thing to do because it feels like, Oh, it’s right.

It’s just right there. And I’m so close. So that is really what makes all of the difference. So keep that in mind when you are setting goals. Keep that in mind. Like how far away is this long term goal? Would it be more beneficial to focus on smaller term goals? In the interim on your way there. So that gives you my friends the new and updated and might I say better, smarter goal framework, especially when it comes to behavior change and especially, especially if we’re talking about health and fitness goals.

So I hope this was helpful. I hope it wasn’t too many jumbled letters and words. I did my best to try to like keep it more concise so we weren’t like jumping all around between the two models from the original framework to my framework, I am going to share. the link to an Instagram post where I map out this entire framework that I just talked about so you can see it in a more visual capacity because I know listening and like thinking back to like the previous ones and I’m [00:22:00] like, are you taking notes?

Are you writing these things down? Whatever. You don’t have to worry about it because you can just go to the Instagram post and see it there and read through it there. So I’ll make sure that that’s included in the show notes for you guys, but otherwise we’re going to wrap it up there and I will see you next time.