{"id":2719,"date":"2017-01-10T15:53:37","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T20:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/?p=2719"},"modified":"2017-01-10T15:53:37","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T20:53:37","slug":"2719-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/2017\/01\/10\/2719-2\/","title":{"rendered":"If Wishes Were Horses & How Do You Eat An Elephant?: A Menagerie of Metaphors On The Importance of Setting Social SMART Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is the New Year, which is officially \u201cResolution Season.\u201d  Case in point: January is by far the most popular month to join a fitness club, and your local gym will likely see up to a 50% uptick in utilization this month.  But do not worry – if you are reading this while you wait for an elliptical to open up, by mid February almost 80% of those who joined in January will be gone (<\/span>source<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?  Because if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wishes are not resolutions, and even resolutions are not SMART Goals.  Wishes are things we want to happen.  \u201cI wish I had a teleporter.\u201d  Sure, life would be easier with a teleporter – then I wouldn\u2019t even need a horse!  Sadly, sans genie, the laws of physics are seriously impeding the likelihood of my wish being fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resolutions are a good place to start.  Let\u2019s take a common one: I Resolve To Lose 10 Pounds This Year. Resolve to achieve a goal (lose 10 pounds).  Set a benchmark (target weight = current weight minus 10 pounds).  Work toward it (Ugh).  Resolutions can also be intimidating, overwhelming, isolating, or simply too complex to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider trading in your New Year\u2019s Resolutions for a SMART Goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMART Goals are a way of re-framing your resolution into something that is: <\/span>S<\/b>pecific, <\/span>M<\/b>easurable, <\/span>A<\/b>ttainable, <\/span>R<\/b>ealistic (or <\/span>R<\/b>elevant), and <\/span>T<\/b>ime-Bound.  By breaking a resolution into its specific parts and pieces one can begin to evaluate each component of the SMART Goal, track progress, adjust course as necessary, and eventually achieve the goal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to super-charge your SMART Goal?  Couple your SMART Goal with some type of social connection.  At minimum, share your goal, and have a loved one or co-workers help hold you accountable.  Even better: connect your actions to other people in a social manner.  We achieve more when we work with, and are connected to, others.  Don\u2019t endeavor to lose 10 pounds.  Endeavor to join a spin class with a friend, attend 3 sessions every week, and meet at least one new person a week in the group for 2 months.  That is how to lose 10 pounds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pleistocene\u2019s greatest culinary achievement, BBQ\u2019d mastodon, was not achieved by a lone hunter and a rock.  It was a group effort.  Find your tribe – they will help you achieve your SMART Goal.  And when you do bring down the mastodon, remember how to eat an elephant: one bite at a time (and with a lot of friends).  You can always get back together to work it off at your next spin class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy New Year, Good luck, and Great Social SMART Goal Setting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

______<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Weld, M. Ed. is the Director of Admissions and Business Development for <\/span>Mansfield Hall<\/span><\/a>, a college support program with locations in Madison, WI<\/a>, Eugene, OR<\/a> and Burlington, VT<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is the New Year, which is officially \u201cResolution Season.\u201d  Case in point: January is by far the most popular month to join a fitness club, and your local gym will likely see up to a 50% uptick in utilization this month.  But do not worry – if you are reading this while you wait […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-skills","category-independence"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mansfieldhall.org\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}