Not the Smartest Person in the Room

Last night I attended a Trustee retreat where we had Dr. Gerald Bell, a leadership specialist as our guest speaker.  The organization I was there for is undergoing a long planned search for a new head and our speaker was there to help us prepare for our eventual change in leadership.  The group of about 25 people who attended last night is made up of people who are all much more brilliant than I am.  None-the-less the exercises we were put through appeared to be both eye opening and informative for almost everyone in the room.

Dr. Bell told us that when we were setting goals for our eventual new head we should use the S.M.A.R.T. system, An acronym not all of us knew.

SMART in goal setting stands for making goals that are

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Attainable

R – Resources

T – Timely

As I thought about my own goal setting I realized that once in a while I was using the SMART system, this weight loss challenge being a good example of that.  I have a specific goal of losing 50 pounds.  I can clearly measure it, as I get on the scale everyday.  It is attainable because it is a 25-week timeline and it is realistic to lose an average of two pounds a week.  I have the resources to do it because I actually use fewer resources by eating less. It is timely because there is no better time to get healthy.

Since I was not the smartest person in the room I would misspell it and call it SMAART. Personally, publicly announcing my intention to try and reach a goal is by far the best motivator for succeeding, therefore my newly added “A” would stand for Accountable.

It is amazing the amount of support I get from people because they know I am working on losing weight.  People are not afraid to talk with me about it because I write about it everyday.  My being out there gives people permission to talk about a subject that is often taboo.  No one is embarrassed to say, “You look like you’ve lost weight” because they know I am trying and not that I have some terrible illness which is causing me to get thinner.

At the end of program Dr. Bell challenged us to come up with 15 goals we wanted to personally attain in the next year.  He said that you needed to think of 15 because the best ones come at the end of your brainstorming after you have already written down all the easy ones.  Once we had thought of 15 we should pick 10.

I am going to do this and share them with my husband so I can be accountable to him.  If I don’t share them it would be very easy for that exercise to be just that, an exercise.  I’m sure you have goals, lists and wishes of things you would like to accomplish.  So join me in adding an extra “A” to being SMAART and be bold in your accountability.  You might find that extra push to finish what you started and even if you don’t, it is so much more fun to have others share in your journey.