New Year, SMART Goals
The start of the new year often comes with goal setting and a restart, but come February 1st, goals tend to fall to the wayside as life picks back up and we get busy. Setting goals is something I enjoy doing and something I do every day. For me, the SMART goal method is the way to go. If you don’t already know, SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. As climbers, we often have a goal in mind. For some, goals are picked out each climbing session; for others, it may be goals picked out for the climbing season. My question for everyone is: do you have a plan behind that goal? Using the SMART technique helps create an action plan for your goal.
If you are wondering about setting daily goals, those are simple goals with a deadline of the end of the day. This could be doing your laundry and putting it away, writing a blog, going to the gym to climb (which then you could set other SMART goals for your session), or attending a yoga class. If you want to come practice with me, see my schedule here.
This year, I have created a yoga goal and a climbing goal. I will share both today as a way to hold myself accountable.
I have a long-term desire to be able to hold an one-armed handstand, but I know my handstand practice is not strong. My yoga goal this year is to hold a handstand for one minute with correct alignment and control without using a wall on at least 10 separate occasions by December 31st, 2026. This goal is specific. I am able to measure my progress by timing my handstands. It is relevant because I am working towards a longer goal of holding a one-armed handstand. Also, I have a deadline, so I meet the time requirements of the SMART goal technique.
My climbing goal this year is to send a 5.12a on lead outside by December 31st, 2026. This past summer, I have sent a handful of 5.11a’s on lead outside, and I climbed other 5.11’s and some 5.12’s on top rope outside. Sending a 5.12a on lead outside might seem like a big leap, but with a whole year ahead, I believe it is possible with dedication and the right plan. I won’t lie, this goal does scare me. Lead climbing and I have had a tough history, ever since I back stepped in the gym lead climbing in 2020. After that incident, I had all the employees coming up to me wanting to check on me. Some of them were Wilderness First Responders (WFRs) and they seemed eager to put their skills to the test by giving me a patient assessment. I believe that created the start of my back-and-forth relationship with lead climbing.
This past summer, I was leading multiple times a week, outside, in the San Juan mountains. I was able to build up some confidence and I sent some 5.11a’s on lead outside. My relationship with lead climbing is more complicated than this, but that is a story for another day.
As we ring in the New Year and set our goals, I encourage you to use the SMART method. If you are unsure if your goal meets the SMART technique, feel free to reach out to me via email: sam@theclimbingyogi.com or through my Instagram: @samtheclimbingyogi.
If you have yoga goals you want help achieving, don’t forget I offer private classes and one on ones.
I would love to hear what goals you are setting or if there is a way I can help you achieve them. Don’t forget, that even if your goals fall to the wayside for a while, you can also pick them back up the next day or the next week. Just because life gets busy and goals and plans are foiled, that doesn’t mean you have to drop the goal entirely. The best thing to do is what climbing and yoga teaches us after failure. You fail, pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, get back on the wall, get back into that pose, get back to your practice. You can do this!
