GOAL SETTING WITH DR RACHEL
MY GUEST BLOGGER Rachel, SHARES TIPS TO EFFECTIVE GOAL SETTING
About Rachel
Rachel Goldman, Ph.D., FTOS is a licensed psychologist specializing in health and wellness, including health behavior change, weight management, eating behaviors, and stress reduction. She is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Rachel has a private practice in NYC where she sees individual clients and utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy to assist clients in behavioral changes that will promote healthier and happier lives. She also provides consulting services to other professionals and corporations, including corporate wellness programming and workshops.
Dr. Rachel has been quoted in many health-related articles, including The New York Times, CNN, USA Today, US News & World Report, Self, and Shape. She continues to be an expert guest on Sirius XM Doctor Radio discussing health behaviors, goal setting, weight management, stress, sleep and behavioral change. She is also a Women’s Health Magazine Action Hero and National Fitness Day Ambassador.
Goal Setting
With 2018 behind us and the New Year in full swing quickly, you may be thinking about the past year, thinking of what you have accomplished, and thinking of what you want to accomplish this year. Regardless of it being a new year or not, it is always good to think ahead, think about where you are at the present time, and where you want to be in the future. It is always good to have goals, but several things are important to keep in mind when setting goals because you don’t want to end up like the majority of people who make New Year’s resolutions each year and not adhere to them.
The first thing to remember is to always PLAN and set S.M.A.R.T goals. Your goals need to be:
Specific. For example, instead of saying “I will run more this week”, say “I will run 4 days this week.”
Measurable. Goals need to be something you can measure. The above example also pertains to this. At the end of the week, you know if you ran 4 days or not.
Action- oriented and Achievable. Instead of saying what you won’t do, say what you WILL do. Additionally, the goal needs to be able to be achieved.
Realistic. Is your goal realistic? Are you willing AND able to do it? For example, instead of “I will never eat fried foods,” say “I will only eat fried foods one time this week.” Also, is your goal realistic to achieve at this time? Maybe you can’t go to the gym 5 days this week because of other commitments, so maybe your goal for this week is 3 days.
Timely. A goal needs a time frame. If you want to run a marathon, when do you want to run it? Someday won’t work and someday may never come.
Planning is important in order to achieve your goals. For example, if you say “I will run 4 days this week,” and you don’t plan, then Monday comes and goes, Tuesday you don’t feel like running…and before you know it there aren’t even 4 days of the week left. I always recommend picking one day per week, maybe Sunday night, look at your calendar, set your goals, and PLAN for that week. Know that your plan for this week may be different than next week.
Weekly goals or short term goals are very important. Long term goals are great to have, but they can be overwhelming and when things are scary they tend to not get accomplished. Therefore, if you have never run more than a 5K and your long term goal is to run a marathon, then break down that goal. Start with smaller, more realistic, more easily attainable goals. Once you have accomplished a short term goal, you have a sense of accomplishment and have the motivation to continue. If you only set a long term goal, for example, of running a marathon and that takes months of training, then you don’t feel like you have accomplished anything for months and that can be very discouraging.
Now, remember life happens and sometimes your plan may not work. Maybe you got stuck at work and couldn’t leave early enough to get your run in, or maybe you had plans to run outside, but now you can’t due to horrible weather, or maybe you had plans to run with a friend and they cancelled on you. It happens- life happens. So, you need to be able to be flexible, think outside the box, and come up with a new plan at times in order to accomplish your goals. You could easily give up and say something to the extent of “it’s raining and cold”, “I can’t run by myself”, or “tomorrow is another day”, but instead re-examine your goals and find another option. It’s NOT what you CAN NOT do, but rather what you CAN DO. Sometimes things get in the way, sometimes there are road blocks, but that is not an excuse to not accomplish your goals. Next time you find yourself at a road block ask yourself what you CAN do….plan, be flexible, tweak your plan, and you WILL accomplish your goal!
So, don’t wait until December 31st to set one unrealistic goal that you have probably tried to accomplish for years, instead think about what you CAN do this week, not next week. Set a SMART goal for yourself that you can be happy about accomplishing by next week and you will be one step closer to accomplishing that long term goal. Today CAN be the first day of the rest of your healthy and new life—just plan for it!
Have questions? Need help setting SMART goals? Message Rachel or email me. I am here to help and to cheer you on along the way. To a healthy and happy life.
Quick fire questions
Outdoor or indoor workouts? Definitely outdoor
Training in big groups or one to one? If I am not outdoors or running then definitely group classes
Morning or evening workouts? Morning to set the tone of my day!
Cardio or weights ? It depends. I think both are important and I enjoy both
Yoga or Pilates? I actually don’t love either, but know they are both good for me.
High intensity or low intensity workouts? High intensity
Chocolate or vanilla ? Softserve ice cream or icing would definitely be vanilla but other things- chocolate.
For breakfast sweet or savory? savory
Spicy or non spicy? Non spicy
Sprints or Spinning ? Spinning
Netflix or YouTube? Netflix
Phone Call or Text? It depends on the person and conversation, but I do really enjoy my phone catch up sessions with my friends that don’t live nearby
Instagram or Twitter? Instagram but I have to do Twitter for my work as I share more research and science backed information
Hip hop or house music? All music
Normal Clothes or sports clothes? Definitely sports clothes on a day to day basis but I do enjoy getting dressed up for work or going out too
Football or Tennis? Dont love either, but I do love watching baseball
Beach or mountain holiday? I love sun and being outdoors, so either one as long as I can be active and enjoy the sunshine
Cinema or theatre? Theatre
Summer or winter holiday? I enjoy taking a vacation during the winter to a warm location, so it feels like the summer
Private jet or boat? I grew up with my family having a boat so I am used to that, but a private jet sounds fabulous and could definitely come in handy!
Trainers or Sandals? Trainers
Hamburger or Tacos? Tacos
Online Shopping or Shopping in a Store? Totally depends on what I am shopping for
Links to Mine and Rachel’s social media accounts
CLICK HERE for Rachel’s IG
CLICK HERE for my IG