My SMART Goals for 2009

I am taking some advice from a Mizfit post in setting my goals for the upcoming year. Check out her post about SMART goals here. According to Mizfit, our goals should be (S)pecific, (M)easurable, (A)ttainable, (R)ealistic, and (T)imely.

I have 3 SMART goals for 2009:

1. To weigh less than 300 pounds by 1/1/10

(S)pecific. I will weigh less than 300 pounds by 1/1/10 and will achieve this by exercising for at least 30 minutes at least 4x/week. I will also stick with my chosen food plan on "most days". For this purpose "most days" will mean being off my food plan no more than 3 days each month.

(M)easurable. Obviously, the scale will measure my progress. Additionally, I will use reward stickers on my calendar to track exercise days and on plan eating days so I can keep myself accountable to my goal.

(A)ttainable. 40ish pounds in one year...completely do-able.

(R)ealistic. Definitely. My plan for exercise is to go to Curves M, W, F before work (have already started that) and to do 30 minutes of exercise each Saturday morning be it Curves, a walk with my dog, or something else. Not straying from my food plan more than 3 days will be more of a challenge for me, but 3 days should be plenty to allow for any special occasions that might come up and make it difficult to be totally faithful to my eating plan.

(T)imely. Deadline for achieving this goal is 1/1/2010. I will post progress updates on the 1st of each month.

2. To have my entire house decluttered and organized by 1/1/2010.

(S)pecific. I will spend at least 1 hour per week on decluttering/organizing tasks. It can either be 1 hour all at once or just 10 or 15 minutes at a time. I will start with one room and finish it before moving on to the next.

(M)easurable. I can track my time on my calendar. I will keep a list of the rooms in my house in the back of my calendar and cross them off as I complete each one.

(A)ttainable. My house is small that I am sure this task can be completed this year.

(R)ealistic. It is realistic that I only spend 1 hour per week on this task. In the past I would go on "organization binges" and burn myself out after a few hours. This time I plan to do it in bits so that I don't get burnt out and give up.

(T)imely. Deadline for achieving this goal in 1/1/2010. I wil post progress updates on the 1st of each month.

3. To complete at least 12 more hours toward my MBA by 1/1/2010

(S)pecific. I am registered for 6 hours in the spring semester, plan to take 3 hours during the summer session, and then at least 3 hours in the fall.

(M)easureable. Transcripts.

(A)ttainable. I completed 18 hours in my first year, so 12 hours this year should be attainable.

(R)ealistic. Definitely. I adjusted my planned schedule for the upcoming year so that I am only taking one course over the summer. I did 2 last summer and it really stressed me out and burned me out.

(T)imely. I will have achieved this goal by the end of the fall semester 2009 (mid-December). I will post progress updates on the 1st of each month.