Goal Setting: Part 2

Making Adjustments

Based on my personal experience, I’d say traveling is one of the biggest disruptors to a fitness journey. It’s harder to plan meals, temptations are easier to come by, and travel fatigue can make it easier to take shortcuts or make rash decisions that aren’t rooted in the rationale of working toward good health outcomes.

So, what’s the solution? How can we realistically translate the hard work and good intentions we have at home into a road trip? For a short trip, breaking this goal into smaller objectives gives me something to target in a way that makes better sense for the circumstance. Put differently, breaking my larger goal into smaller parts makes me more likely to adhere to it. However, to be successful, my new goal is more than simply saying, “I’m going to stick to a fitness routine during my work trip.” Instead, I can adjust my larger SMART goal as circumstances change and still stay accountable.

A SMART Goal for travel might sound something more like this:

“I’m going to stick to a fitness routine on this trip by exercising on at least two of the three days, having at least 30 grams of protein to start each morning, and getting at least eight hours of sleep each night.”

I still check all five boxes.

Specific: Three concrete areas of focus:

Two days of exercise

Daily protein intake starts with 30 grams at breakfast

Sleep duration is still 8 hours

Measurable: I assigned a number to each specific goal, so I’ll know whether I’m successful.

Exercise: "at least two of the three days"

Protein: "at least 30 grams"

Sleep: "at least eight hours"

Action-Oriented: I’m literally using verbs to describe what I’ll do

#exercise

#have at least 30 grams

#sleep at least eight hours

Realistic: This goal will be challenging (especially with all the open bars on this trip), but absolutely achievable.

Timely: This goal has a clear and defined timeframe:

"3 days”

"start each morning…"

"each night…"

By adjusting the bigger picture, I can still focus on something that feeds into a larger objective and helps keep me on track.