The SMART Goal Framework: Stop Planning and Start Following Through

Why you keep failing

You don’t fail your goals, your goals are set up to fail you.

You set unrealistic goals that would be extremely difficult for even the most disciplined people to achieve. These types of goals are called Outcome Goals, which focus on the final, and often uncontrollable, result. What you really need are Process Goals, which focus more on the actionable behaviors that are within your control. That’s exactly what the SMART framework is designed to fix.

What are SMART goals?

SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. This framework helps break down your long-term goals into subgoals that are well-defined, and much more manageable. These subgoals are incremental steps that will eventually get you to your final goal. These little wins won’t just be benchmarks, but they’ll be achievements that will help see your progress and keep you motivated.

Specific

Specificity is key when it comes to setting a process goal. If the intended outcome is unclear, then you won’t have the direction you need to reach it. For example, someone might say “I want to lose weight,” and while that’s a great goal, it’s too vague. We need to tighten it up a bit and come up with something more attainable, such as “I want to lose 10 pounds.” This is already a better goal because there’s specific details on how the goal will be achieved.

Measurable

Goals have to be measurable, otherwise, you’ll never know what needs to be changed to reach them. Let’s stick with that 10 pound goal. What we want to do is set up regularly scheduled weigh-ins that can track the weight loss by recording the date and scale weight each time. Without these structured weigh-ins, it’t be very difficult to see how much progress has been made. Each weigh-in opens the door to further discussion or self-reflection on what went right and what went wrong that past week.

Attainable

The problem with outcome goals is that they’re often unattainable within a reasonable amount of time. Let’s assume we have two people. One person who says “I want to lose 100 pounds” and another who says “I want to lose 10 pounds.” Now let’s assume both people lose 5 pounds in a month. On one hand, the person who wants to lose 100 pounds doesn’t see any progress and feels like it’s not worth it to try anymore. On the other hand, the person who wants to lose 10 pounds is already half way there and is more motivated than ever to finish strong. It’s all about perspective and setting yourself up for success.

Realistic

Not only do your goals need to be attainable, they also need to be realistic. These two criteria are fairly similar and can get mixed up pretty easily, so for some clarification, attainable is about the size of the goal while realistic is more about your personal circumstances.

Two people with vastly different schedules may not be able to reach the same goal in the same amount of time. While losing 10 pounds in two months is generally attainable, it’s not necessarily as realistic for someone who works 12 hour shifts as it is for someone who works 8 hour shifts. You and your trainer, if you have one, need to properly assess what’s reasonably attainable for YOUR schedule. This also means you need to stop comparing yourself and your progress to other people in the process.

Timely

Lastly, a goal needs to be timely. It should be a short enough time frame to create a sense of urgency, but it should also have a little bit of leeway to allow for a couple slip ups. What’s timely for you may not be timely for others, so again, this will take a lot of reflection. You’ll have to look into your lifestyle, and stop comparing it to others with completely different schedules.

Bringing it all together

We’ve talked about what a SMART goal is, and we’ve even discussed a few one-off examples for some of the steps in the process. Now let’s look at an outcome goal and how the SMART framework would turn it into a process goal.

Let’s start with the outcome goal: “I want to lose some weight to look better on my vacation this summer.” While this is a solid long-term intention, it lacks the structure of a SMART goal.

First, it’s not specific. “Lose some weight” is vague, so we can change it to: “I want to lose 10 pounds.”

Next, it’s missing a way to measure progress. We can fix this by adding: “...by exercising for 1 hour per day, three days per week, and weighing myself every Sunday.”

Now, we consider whether the goal is both attainable and reasonable. Assuming a typical 9–5 work schedule, we can make this more realistic by planning workouts immediately after work to build consistency.

Finally, we want the goal to have a reasonable timeframe. If the vacation is in 6 months, setting a goal to lose 10 pounds within 5 months gives a realistic and structured timeline while still allowing for some adjustments along the way.

Putting it all together, our new SMART goal becomes:

“I want to lose 10 pounds in 5 months by exercising for 1 hour after work, three days per week, and tracking my weight every Sunday.”

With this newly formed process goal, not only will it be easier to lose that 10 pounds, but you’ve already set up the foundation for how to lose the weight and you’ve given yourself enough leeway to learn how to make the necessary changes to reach your goal. 

You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone

Knowing the framework is one thing, but applying it to your specific life is another. A fitness coach can help you identify which goals are actually realistic for your schedule, hold you accountable to the process, and make adjustments when life gets in the way. If you're tired of setting goals that fail you, I'd love to help you build a plan that actually works for your lifestyle. Click the button below to set up a free 30-minute consultation with me, and let's figure out your first SMART goal together!