A SMART way to shape goals

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kimberly L. Mueller
  • 81st Training Wing Public Affairs

“Your health is more than being able to run well for the physical fitness test or max out on push-ups,” said Joy Schaubhut, 81st Operational Readiness Medicine Squadron Health Promotion program coordinator. “It encompasses mental, physical, spiritual and social health and if you have healthy goals, it’s important to have a plan to reach them.”

Goals are recommended to be specific, measurable, attainable, results focused and time bound, or SMART, for successful results.

“Sometimes we set a goal like ‘I’m going to eat healthier,’ but that’s too vague,” said 1st Lt. Kelly Caponigro, 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron nutritionist. “Be more specific and ask yourself how you want to eat healthier. You don’t have to overhaul your whole diet, just focus on good goals.”

A SMART version of a goal to eat healthier could be to go from two soft drinks a day to one for seven days in a row by the end of the month. Once the previous goal is met, a new goal could be built on top of the success, such as no soft drinks seven days in a row by the end of the next month.

“If something is working well for you and you mess up, be kind to yourself,” said Schaubhut. “Count mess-ups as slips instead of failures, modify your plan to meet goals and keep your routine as close to normal as possible.”

There are many resources with information available to anyone ready to make healthy goals during COVID; hprc-online.org, myplate.gov, mental health, the Health Promotion program coordinator, etc.

“The tips and the tricks are the same as before COVID-19,” said Schaubhut. “The pandemic is just a new environment to apply them.”