Addison Stoddard: "Welcome to another USU Extension Education highlight. My name is Addison Stoddard, and joining me is Emma Parkhurst, USU extension health and wellness professional practice assistant professor. Thanks so much for joining me, Emma."
Emma Parkhurst: "Happy to be here."
Addison: "So Emma wrote an article about Quitters Day, or the second friday in January, which is the day when most people have given up on their New Year's resolutions. You shared a couple different ways to avoid quitting on some of those goals, and one of the first ways was SMART goals. Would you be able to tell me a little bit about why setting SMART goals is helpful when it comes to New Year's resolutions?"
Emma: "Yeah, absolutely, and for those who aren't familiar with the term SMART, it's an acronym. So it's specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, and that really is just kind of setting ourselves up for success by making sure that our goals aren't too vague.
So instead of saying I'm going to spend less time on my phone, we can actually make it more SMART. We can make it specific. So is there a certain amount of time I'm looking to spend measurable—where you can check in with yourself at the end of the day or the end of the week, making sure that's realistic.
So all that to say, it's just to make sure that our goals aren't too vague because that vagueness is what can set us up for failure. We won't know how to be successful if we don't have those set in line for us."
Addison: "For sure. That can get kind of frustrating with accomplishing goals if they're not clear, right? I also wanted to know a little bit about why the "why" is important behind goals. You kind of talked about having a reason behind setting goals. Can you tell me a little bit about why that's important?"
Emma: "Yeah, absolutely. If you're setting a goal and you're not sure why you're setting it, it doesn't align with your values, you're probably not going to be interested or motivated to actually keep that goal. So if you can kind of tap into your values what matters most in life to you; if there is something that you've noticed that isn't bringing you joy; if you think that could improve the quality of your life, you can tap into figuring out why you want to do that.
I can share one of my own goals that I have, and that's to read more and scroll less. And funny enough, I find that setting SMART goals isn't very helpful for me. I find that little bit overwhelming and a little bit too much pressure on myself where it could be "you fail or you succeed." So I really enjoy more growth or progress focused goals, where it's day to day, right? If I going back to my own goal, if I scrolled more and I didn't read, that's okay I can start tomorrow; tomorrow is another day.
So I'm figuring out why I want to do that because I love reading, but I work and I have two young children. So instead of spending my night scrolling, I would much rather do something that I enjoy, and that is something else that is going to improve my sleep. So my two reasons for why I want to read more is I love it and I want to sleep better. So figuring out why you want to do something can really help you be more successful."
Addison: "I love that goal, and I love how you mentioned that every day is a new opportunity to achieve your goals and to try again. Going along with that, I wanted to talk a little bit about celebrating what you accomplish. Why do you think that's helpful when it comes to sticking to your goals? Do you think it makes a difference when you celebrate them?"
Emma: "Absolutely. You need to acknowledge and give yourself credit. Think about if you had a friend that was trying to make some different changes in their lives, and they're like, 'Well, I didn't go for my 10 mile run, but I went for an eight mile, I guess that's good enough.' You'd be cheering on that friend 'You did eight miles.' So we want to apply that to ourselves, even in the smallest of changes too. It doesn't have to be something grandiose like that. It can be I scrolled for 10 minutes less than yesterday. That's awesome. I'm going to check that box.
So giving yourself that credit can give your self esteem that boost, which will kind of get you in a positive cycle, or an upward spiral, to keep meeting those goals."
Addison: "That's great. I mean, even you just saying that made me want to celebrate things that I've accomplished. Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today."
Emma: "Yeah, of course. Thanks so much for having me."