How to Set SMART Goals

Setting SMART goals in therapy or at home helps you define your intentions and put them into practice. The acronym “SMART” means that a goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

When you’re trying to make changes in your life, setting SMART goals can give you a sense of ownership and personal importance, which helps you stay motivated to make the changes stick.

SMART goals are often used in healthcare, including mental healthcare, but they can also be used in business and educational settings.

SMART: Breaking Down the Parts of the Goal

The letters in “SMART” tell you that the goal is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. But what does each of those words mean in practice?

Let’s look at an example. You’ve noticed that you’re not feeling rested and want to make sleep more of a priority in your life. Here’s how setting SMART goals can help. 

• Specific: You make a clear goal instead of coming up with something general. For example, if you want to “go to bed earlier,” that’s a vague goal. To make it specific, you could say, “I want to go to bed by 9 o'clock every night.”
• Measurable: You need to be able to track your progress and know when you’ve met your goal. So, going to bed every night at 9 is a goal you can measure. You could mark your calendar or use a goal-tracking app to check off each night that you get to bed on time.
• Attainable: Your goal needs to be something you can reasonably do. A goal of going to bed at 9 every night would not be realistic if you work the night shift—in fact, it would probably be impossible.
• Relevant: Your goal needs to matter to you and fit into your life and values. If you want to make your health more of a priority, a goal like getting better sleep could be part of making that change. 
• Time-bound: Your goals need a deadline or at least a timeline. Setting an endpoint helps keep you motivated. So, if you want to fix your sleep hygiene, you could say, “I want to go to bed by 9 every night for the next month” and see how you do. By then, the new routine might have already become a habit.

Why Do SMART Goals Work?

One reason that SMART goals are a popular method is that research has shown they are an effective tool for people who want to make health-related changes in their lives.

Even if you’re very motivated to make changes, it can still be challenging. Setting a SMART goal breaks down the path you have to take into smaller parts—those five factors represented by the letters—and lets you think carefully about each step.

A SMART goal gives you clear, actionable steps and a predetermined endpoint, at which time you’ll stop and reflect to see if your plan needs to be adjusted.

Types of Goals

Some goals seem more likely to succeed than others. For example, “approach” goals tend to be more effective than “avoidance” goals. In other words, try to set a goal for an action that you want to take rather than one you do not want to take.

Research has also shown that “performance" goals may be less effective than "mastery" goals. A performance goal is one where you try to achieve a specific outcome—a common example would be something like “I want to lose 20 pounds.” A mastery goal is one where you learn a new skill or build on an ability you already have—for example, “I will walk every night for 30 minutes after dinner.”

When challenges come up in trying to meet a mastery goal, they are often seen as a natural part of the goal-achievement process. These challenges encourage problem-solving and active engagement.

For example, if your goal is to walk every night after dinner but work tasks have kept you from meeting that goal, you may change up your routine so you can take a walk on your lunch break because it will help you meet your goal.

On the other hand, not reaching a performance goal can feel like a failure because it involves judgment. Think about a goal of losing 20 pounds. If you don’t lose exactly 20 pounds, you may feel defeated and like you’ve failed to meet your goal, even if you’ve succeeded in making some changes to your lifestyle.

If you have a performance goal in mind, it can be easier to break it down into smaller, mastery-based goals in specific, measurable ways. For example, if you want to lose 20 pounds, you could break that goal down into making dietary changes and increasing your physical activity.

How to Set SMART Goals

You can certainly set SMART goals on your own, but you may also want to use them in therapy. Your therapist may also suggest using SMART goals if you’re having trouble getting more detailed and specific about a life change you want to make.

Here are some examples of how you can use SMART goals, either in therapy or on your own. 

S: Specific

• Think about your overall goals and narrow down your goal to be as specific as possible.
• “Being less anxious” is a common goal for therapy, for example, but it’s a little too general. How can you make a goal like that more specific?
• Create a statement for your goal that helps you define it clearly. You may even want to write it down. For example, you might say, “I want to reduce my anxiety attacks to three a week or less.”

M: Measurable

• Adding measurable (quantifiable) criteria to your goal helps you keep track of your progress.
• Brainstorm some ways that you can visualize each step of the process. Not only will this help you stay motivated, but accountability can also discourage you from cutting corners.
• Calendars, phone apps, and journaling are all strategies you can use to track your goals.
• For example, if you’re trying to reduce stress, your goal might be to take 10-minute meditation breaks twice a day. You can use an app or a notebook to log your meditation sessions and stress levels each day. If you're in therapy, you and your therapist can look at your records and track your progress.
• Keeping track can also help you see if you need to make any changes to your goals as you go along. You’ll be able to pick out trends, such as situations that cause you more stress, so that you can avoid them or respond to them differently.

A: Attainable

• While you might want to “dream big” when you’re first thinking about your goals, it is helpful to take those large goals and break them down into smaller ones.
• If you're working with a therapist, they can also help guide you away from setting unattainable goals. Your goals can be ambitious, but they should not be impossible. You want to choose a goal that you are confident that you can reach, but that will also challenge you to follow through with smaller, more attainable actions that are needed to achieve it.
• Think about what support and resources you need to realistically achieve your goal. For example, do you have the time or supplies needed for the goal? If you don’t right now, can you get them?
  

R: Relevant

• Does each step of the goal-reaching process make sense and matter to you? It can help to talk with a therapist about why you want to make a specific change or set a specific goal. How does it fit into your life?
• Your goal should feel important and inspiring to you. If you don’t feel like the goal matters, you won’t be very motivated or invested in trying to get there.
• Sometimes, you may have to reframe a goal to make it more relevant to you. For example, maybe you know that reducing your anxiety would have benefits for your mental and physical health, but those benefits feel too vague to be motivating. Instead, it might help to think about how lowering your stress levels would help you enjoy spending time with your loved ones or get back to a hobby that you enjoy.
• Keep in mind that nobody else can set goals for you. Ultimately, you are the one who will decide what goals to set.

T: Time-Bound

• Make a timeline for when you want to reach your goal. The timeframe should be realistic but not too far into the future.
• For example, if you want to use techniques you learn in therapy to reduce stress so you’re having fewer than three anxiety attacks per week, you might give yourself one month to achieve that goal.
• Once you get to the endpoint, you can review your process and see what worked well and what didn’t. Then, you can revise your strategy and set a new goal.

SMART Goal Template

For example, "I will reduce my anxiety attacks to three times a week or less by using anxiety management techniques I learn in therapy when I’m feeling anxious. I will do this for the next month and track my progress in my journal.”

How to Make SMART Goals Stick

Once you’ve set and achieved a SMART goal, here are some tips that will help make it stick:

• Write your goal down and go back to it often.
• Keep in mind that life happens. Making adjustments to your goal is part of the learning process. Don't beat yourself up if something has to change. Instead, look at your progress and your goals. Did you miss a step? Is something not working? If you see a stumbling block, readjust your plan and goal and jump right back in.
• Don’t set yourself up for failure by taking on too much or setting a goal that you probably will not be able to reach. Be realistic about your expectations.
• Focus on process goals instead of just the outcome. An outcome gives you a target, but it does not address how you will reach the goal. Think about changing behaviors and habits.
• If you want to make sustainable lifestyle changes, setting longer-term goals helps you keep the big picture in mind. You can still break down a long-term goal into smaller, short-term goals that will be easier to track.
• Remember that someone else's goals are not your goals. Your goals have to be meaningful and attainable for you.