Making Goals That Will Help You Succeed

You are learning all the things you should be doing to get that glucose under control and I know you want to start making big changes so you can ‘jump start’ your healthy lifestyle and forget about all this prediabetes stuff like it was just a bad dream ...

But the reality is that the SMALL goals are what really lead you toward success!

Let’s talk about the benefits of choosing to focus on small goals, examples of small goals, and how to develop goals to focus on!

Benefits of Small Goals

While you may think that bigger goals will help you more, you'd be wrong! Choosing to focus on your big goals (like getting to your goal weight, running a marathon, etc.) sets you up for failure!

When you focus on those big goals, you don't know what steps to take to get there, which leads to procrastination and a lack of motivation. There are too many factors to consider, so you don't know what to focus your efforts on, and overall, you end up wondering how you ended up further away from your goal or giving up. And that's NO FUN!

Instead, focus on smaller goals that are based on actions to help you work toward that big goal!

SMART Goals

Making small goals is easier than you think, but there are some things you have to consider.

Instead of simply saying “I’m going to eat better” or “I’m going to move more” or “I’ll get my fasting blood glucose down”, you need to think about a few things for each goal.

In case you’re already familiar, we are going to use a format called SMART goals to help us do this!

Each SMART goal has different components:

So now you can see why those original examples (like “I’m going to move more”) don’t work!

They aren’t specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, or time-based!

You don’t know what action you need to take in order to actually meet your goal!

Why Small Goals Help

One major reason:

You know exactly what you need to do, when you’re going to do it, and when you have reached your goal.

That last part is a big deal!

When you make a goal like “I’m going to lose 50 pounds” you feel like it’s a specific goal, but it’s huge!

And how will you do it?

When are you going to work on it?

It’s so far away from where you are now that it seems like nothing you do today will actually help you reach that goal!

Or it’s more tempting to make giant changes to try and reach the goal faster.

Instead, making small goals helps you build up your confidence because you’ll constantly be trying new behaviors, keeping the ones that actually work well in your life, and gaining momentum to truly reach that bigger end goal (which is likely to lower your blood glucose, since you’re here!).

Now ... Let's Make Some Goals!

Today, I want you to download the worksheet below and start developing ideas for your first small goal!

Remember: Make sure it’s specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based so you can be successful!

The worksheet is a step-by-step process to help you see how to develop a SMART goal.

Once you understand the process, you can write your SMART goals anywhere - in your phone, in your planner, or on a sticky note. Whatever it takes to keep working on your small goals and tracking your progress toward those big goals!

Quick Note: There are some goal ideas at the end of this week's lessons if you need some inspiration!

Want Some Extra Accountability?

Feel free to share your SMART goal(s) for the week in the comments section below!

You never know who else you'll inspire to make similar changes.

Sometimes we can't think of what to work on next or we may be overwhelmed with all the things we could be working on.

So maybe you'll help someone else choose a goal to work on this week and help them feel better knowing others want to work on the same things!

Plus, by putting your comments below, know that we are here to help support you and can answer questions or provide feedback if there's anything you need in order to meet your goal(s)!