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Emotional wellness refers to how aware people are of their current emotional state and how they push through challenges. It doesn’t always mean you’ll be happy, but instead, you’re conscious and able to adapt and understand. There are several ways to help you achieve this state, including setting practical goals.
Here, we will share some SMART goals for emotional wellness to get you started on the path to resilience.
What Are SMART Goals?
For those who aren’t familiar with SMART goals, they’re a system created to allow anyone to set achievable and specific objectives for themselves. Compared to vague aims that don’t have much detail, SMART goals are well-defined and exact. The acronym SMART also stands for the following five points:
Specific
Your goal must be precise, or it won’t be effective. Vagueness doesn’t help you achieve anything, as you won’t have anything to focus on. This point asks the five W questions: “who, what, why, where, and which.”
By answering each question, you’ll naturally find yourself fleshing out a carefully planned objective that you can compare yourself to at all times. As a result, the goal will no longer appear abstract or unclear.
Measurable
When setting a SMART goal, you should also give it room for sub-goals and objectives you can strive for along the way. These milestones make the goal measurable, so you can always tell if you’re on schedule or not. Measurability is crucial for success, as you can evaluate your own progress frequently.
The best way to use this point is to set metrics from daily to annual goals. Of course, it depends on your goal’s timeframe, but we encourage you to have sub-goals you’re comfortable working toward.
Achievable
Seemingly impossible goals are discouraging and frustrating, and people tend to give up in the face of such daunting tasks. Instead, take a different approach and don’t force yourself to overextend. Rather, the goal should be realistic and within reach.
It can be challenging to balance the goal’s difficulty, but the process becomes more accessible by considering your limitations. Overall, it would help if you gave yourself chances to improve without pushing beyond what’s acceptable.
Relevant
The goals you set must be relevant to the bigger picture, such as companies setting annual objectives. As for personal purposes, you’ll want to improve your emotional wellness, which will help you grow as a person. Finally, your SMART goals must align with your long-term plans, as it could be a waste of time if they don’t.
When you have a vision, aligning your goals will result in improvement and growth.
Time-Bound
A goal requires a deadline, as, without one, you’ll be more prone to procrastination due to a lack of urgency. But, on the other hand, time limits give you a healthy sense of urgency and motivation, and you can take advantage of both as you work toward the goal.
Having some measurability also ties into this point. For example, giving yourself appropriately assigned deadlines will prompt you to complete your objectives more quickly.
One advantage of using the SMART goal system for personal growth is giving yourself suitable amounts of pressure to motivate yourself. Say goodbye to unrealistic and impossible goals and replace them with these attainable ones.
For further reading on SMART goals, feel free to click here for our in-depth guide.
Why SMART Goals Are Important for Improving Your Emotional Wellness
Anyone can say they wish to feel better, but the goal of improving one’s emotional state is vague and not attainable. Feeling good isn’t quantifiable, and your mood will also change as time passes. That’s why you need SMART goals for improving your emotional wellness.
SMART goals are flexible and open to adjustment. For example, you might discover one of your goals is too complicated; scaling it down is entirely feasible. That way, you still have an achievable objective.
When you’re not sure about a SMART goal, you can always sit down and ask yourself questions. Then, through some self-questioning, you’ll figure out if that particular goal is worth going for or not.
Boosting mental wellness requires plenty of consistency, and SMART goals with thought put into them are much more consistent than standard plans. The degree of precision you can find in these objectives will help you push toward positive outcomes without too much temptation to abandon them.
Time management is essential if you wish to progress, and SMART goals create just enough urgency to push you to devote time to them. Making progress won’t be too difficult if you give yourself reasonable goals to improve your emotional state.
You don’t want goals that seem far-off or impossible, which is why using the SMART goal system provides plenty of benefits. In time, you’ll realize that you’ve made plenty of progress in the emotional wellness department thanks to carefully scheduled and planned goals.
SMART Goal Examples for Improving Your Emotional Wellness
Here are examples of SMART goals for emotional wellness. Of course, you’re more than welcome to make any modifications and come up with some of your own.
1. “Every day, I’ll carve out a few minutes before bed or during the evening to write down what I’m grateful for in a journal. The entries don’t have to be long, and they can be simple. I’ll check on my emotional state weekly until I’ve kept the journal for a full year.”
S: This goal is designed to help you find the good things in life every day.
M: Every day, you’ll spend a few minutes writing an entry for your journal.
A: This goal is very achievable.
R: By keeping records of your emotional state, you can keep yourself motivated, allowing you to push forward and make progress toward emotional wellness.
T: The deadline is every day, continuing until a full year passes from the first day.
Journaling is a healthy way to come to terms with difficult situations. No matter how bad the day went, you can still find some good coming from it, and writing the blessings down can motivate you for the next day.
You can even look back at the end of the week and see if your emotional state is stable or improving. Keep on doing this for a year, and you might be surprised how far you’ve come.
2. “Every week, I’ll exercise several different times, preferably five. I’ll go on a walk, lift some weights, or join a sports club. Then, I’ll continue for six months and check my progress.”
S: The goal is to improve your emotional health by exercise.
M: You partake in physical activity five times a week for six months.
A: This goal is achievable but requires commitment.
R: Through exercise, your emotional health increases, which will help you learn how to push past difficult situations.
T: The deadline is the end of the week for six months.
Exercise has been proven to be beneficial for the emotional well-being of people. In addition, physically active people are less prone to developing mental illnesses, and it helps with combating depression and anxiety. So even if you don’t have any of these conditions, setting aside some time for exercise is always a good idea.
Whatever you plan to do should be strenuous enough to induce a change. Five days of exercise a week will prove sufficient for improving your emotional and physical wellness.
3. “By going on YouTube, I can easily find some funny videos. Whether it’s cat videos, dog videos, or bird videos doesn’t matter. As long as I can look at some every day for ten minutes, I should feel a bit better.”
S: The goal is to laugh every day by watching funny videos online.
M: You only have to watch some funny videos every day.
A: Many of us have already achieved this goal by accident, so it should be no problem.
R: By finding time to laugh and feel good every day, your emotional state’s quality will increase significantly.
T: The deadline is the end of each day.
It’s not difficult to see how humor can improve mental and emotional health. As funny videos are a dime a dozen on the internet, you can find something entertaining in seconds.
If that’s not enough, you can also combine the videos with a funny book or watch them with a friend who can make you laugh effortlessly. All it takes is a catalyst for laughter to improve your emotional well-being.
4. “By doing positive actions that lift my mood, I will get my head out of the gutter. I can do something every day for a month.”
S: This goal aims to lift your spirits through positive actions.
M: You should do something that makes your feel positive.
A: This goal is achievable.
R: Positivity will benefit your emotional health in the long term, making this plan a great idea.
T: The deadline is every day for a month.
Listening to your favorite song, spending time with your pet, or even making a delicious dinner are some ways to give your mood a boost. But, of course, it takes a while for positivity to affect your mood, meaning perseverance is vital.
5. “I’ll sit on my bed every night and breathe deeply for 15 minutes. Then, after two months, I’ll look back and compare my emotional state.”
S: This goal uses breathing exercises to reduce stress.
M: Every night before bed, relax and practice some breathing exercises.
A: This goal is easy to achieve.
R: Breathing exercises are highly effective at reducing stress and taking your mind off troubling matters, improving your mood.
T: Two months after the first day is the deadline.
Breathing exercises don’t take much effort, and you can do them practically anywhere. It can also take a certain period before the effects are apparent. However, they’re pretty effective for relaxation.
6. “Instead of binge-watching TV, I’ll go to bed early and get eight hours of sleep daily. Bedtime will be before 11 at night.”
S: This goal is designed to boost your emotional state by sleeping.
M: Go to bed before 11 P.M. every day.
A: This goal is achievable.
R: Adequate sleep benefits your entire well-being, including emotional health.
T: 11 P.M. every day is the deadline.
Research shows how sleep affects all aspects of your health. Therefore, you should get enough rest every day to reduce stress.
Final Thoughts on SMART Goals to Improve Your Emotional Wellness
Improving your mood isn’t a simple matter, but with the help of these SMART goals for emotional wellness, you won’t struggle as much. Of course, these methods take a while to be effective, and you shouldn’t give up right away. If you’re also interested in SMART goals for assistants, click or tap here.
Finally, if you want to take your goal-setting efforts to the next level, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals.
