Feeling Stupid About S.M.A.R.T. Goals

I’m not a big fan of The Biggest Loser, but it’s in my DVR line-up and I watch it while I’m pounding out a treadmill workout or pushing through my strength routine. A few weeks ago it was one of their “at home” episodes, where the contestants have to spend a week at home to face the challenges of every day life with their family and friends.  Usually the contestants do pretty poorly during this week (at least by Biggest Loser standards). They slip back into their old routines (which don’t include much gym time) and old habits (which include too much fried food and cheese) and the scale doesn’t let them get away with it.

But this season was different. The contestants were given a challenge before they went home: if their team lost a certain percentage of weight, everyone would be safe from elimination. The weight loss goal would have been significant for a week “on the ranch,” but I thought it was an impossible one for a week at home.

Without spoiling it for anyone who is really far behind, I will just say that I was surprised at how well the contestants did as a whole. Did having that specific, measurable, (surprisingly) attainable, results-oriented and time-limited goal make the difference? This episode really got me thinking, because I am horrible at setting goals, and even worse at setting SMART goals.

When I was dieting, I never set specific weight loss goals. I had meal plans, grocery lists, and calorie budgets, but I never set a goal to lose a certain number of pounds by a certain date. (Maybe that’s why my weight loss journey took such a long and winding road, but at least I got there!)

For my very first race, I did have a specific goal: finish the Army Ten Miler in 90 minutes. But that goal was based on my normal running pace. I thought I had to complete every run at that pace in order to “train” for that finish time. (That thinking got me sidelined and almost completely derailed my training.)

Since then, I’ve gotten better at training smart, but I still am not very good at setting SMART goals. For the Rock’N’Roll USA Half Marathon, my friend had a specific goal: finish in 2:00 hours. I knew that goal was within our reach, I knew how to train for that goal, and I knew how to pace myself to reach that goal, but I’m not sure I would have set that goal myself. (Even though I started the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon with that same goal in mind, I had set that goal based on my training, not vice versa.)

I think I am still reluctant to set goals because I am afraid of falling short. I am a perfectionist and tend to be very hard on myself. If I set a goal and didn’t reach it, I would be very disappointed. Maybe that’s why when I do set goals, I tend to be very conservative. To avoid falling short, I may sell myself short. 

When I started dieting after law school, I only wanted to get back into my old clothes.

I had no idea that I would blow through my size 12s and need a new wardrobe of size 2s.

I just never would have set such an ambitious goal for myself.

In the same way, I hesitate to set specific goals for races. I may have a specific number in mind by the time I hit “start” on my Garmin, but I don’t sign up for a race with a plan to finish in a certain time.

I’m puzzling through all this now because I’m only a few days away from the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, and I am still figuring out my goal for the race. Looking at my past times for the Army Ten Miler and the GW Parkway Classic, 1:25 would be pretty close to a PR, but I’m not sure if I want to push myself that hard. Maybe I will focus on enjoying myself during the race–but that could be harder than a PR for a competitive, type A person like me!

Do you set S.M.A.R.T. goals?

How far ahead of a race do you decide on your goal?