Setting goals for your mental health is a common practice in therapy. These goals – about a behavior you want to change or life milestone you hope to reach – guide therapy sessions and give your therapist an idea of why you’re in therapy. They also give you a way of tracking your personal development, in and out of session.
Setting SMART Goals
The SMART method offers a structured way to approach goal-setting. It’s commonly used in business settings to guide the organization towards their desired outcomes. SMART is an acronym that stands for:
- Specific: Make sure that your goal describes something tangible, with as much detail as you can add. Having a specific goal gives you a strong sense of where you’re headed.
- Measurable: When your goal is measurable, you can track your progress. Without a way to measure your progress, you won’t know whether or not you’ve reached your goal.
- Action-oriented: Goals are generally based on actions and behaviors. This gives you a clear to-do list of actions to take to achieve your goal.
- Relevant: If your goal isn’t relevant to your life, it might be extremely difficult to accomplish. Goals are most likely accomplished when they have everyday relevance, which means that you won’t forget about where you’re headed.
- Time-bound: By giving yourself a deadline, you’ll find that you’re more motivated to make change in the present.
Another version of SMART uses the words Significant, Meaningful, Action-oriented, Rewarding and Trackable. Whichever version you use, this methodology for creating goals can help you reach success from the starting line.
SMART Goals & Mental Health
Wondering how to use SMART goals for your mental health? We have eight tips for you on implementing effective, meaningful steps to achieve your desired lifestyle and mindset.
Frame goals positively
When setting goals, it’s important to frame them positively. There are many ways to set goals, but creating goals that have a positive spin on them will help you stay motivated as you take small steps.
Look at the difference between these two goals, which describe the same outcome:
- “Remember to pack my lunch every day for work.”
- “Don’t forget to pack my lunch every day for work.”
While the difference may seem insignificant, the first goal exudes a more positive frame of mind. This makes a big difference in the second example:
- “Practice self-care every day.”
- “Stop being depressed and actually do something every day.”
Positive self-talk takes you miles, which is why using a positive framework in your goals is most effective.
Be precise
When you’re setting your goals, be precise in what you hope to achieve. There is a difference between a long-term and a short-term vision. When you give yourself an undefined amount of time to complete your goals, you might not feel the same motivation as when you give yourself a matter of weeks or months. Being precise with the time frame ensures that you keep your eye on your goal and hold yourself accountable.
When it comes to your mental health, it might be helpful to break your goals down into tiny pieces. If your goal is to successfully manage your anger, your smaller targets can be to identify your triggers or practice your coping skills. An even smaller step towards this goal could be to track your mood every day, which can help you identify your feelings. Being precise with your intentions for each step can give you an explicit plan for reaching your big picture goal.
Make goals a priority
Your goals will not happen if you don’t make them happen – and make them a priority. Prioritizing your goals means prioritizing your mental health, which is a powerful method of practicing self-care.
Habits are hard to form. When you set your mind to doing something every day, it’s hard to make that activity stick unless you set aside time for it. The same is true of goals – if you don’t set aside time to work towards those goals, you’ll find yourself either too tired or too busy at the end of the day.
Depending on your goal, it might be helpful to set aside time specifically to work towards your goal every day. You could set an alarm on your phone or place a hold on your calendar to remind yourself that it’s time to take your daily baby steps towards reaching your mental health goal.