Heard of SMART Goals? Try SMART Habits

If you’ve ever read a book or listened to a podcast on productivity, you have likely been introduced to SMART goals. Developed in 1968 by Dr. Edwin Locke and then expanded upon in 1981 by George T. Doran, SMART is an acronym for the ideal characteristics of successful goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

We all have things we want to achieve, but as Napoleon Hill has said, “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” The SMART framework helps to turn dreams into tangible results, and has been extremely popular over the past 40 years.

If a goal is a dream with a deadline, perhaps a habit is a reflex with a reward. When we begin an action for the first time, we utilize the pre-frontal cortex and hippocampus, the areas of our brain responsible for decision-making and executive function. Over time, however, as the action is repeated and the neural pathways become stronger, other areas such as the putamen in the basal ganglia are activated. Habits become automatic, reflexive, and continue this way as long as we are getting a desired reward from our actions.

But how do we make habits “stick”? It is a question that plagues many who want to improve themselves or simplify their lives but can’t seem to make a new action automatic. While I’m not a habits researcher myself, I have read many books on habits such as Atomic Habits by James Clear, Good Habits, Bad Habits by Wendy Wood, and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I would therefore like to propose a different SMART acronym to help you build and maintain successful habits: the SMART habits framework.

Start Super Small

Ok, technically this is three S’s rather than one. But I can’t stress the importance of starting super small with a new habit. How small? As Leo Babauta of Zen Habits says, “Make it so easy you can’t say no.” You may think that reading for one minute, doing one push-up, or mindfully breathing for ten breaths is silly because it’s not making any difference in forming a larger habit. But the beginning of building a habit is the most crucial, because you are forming new neural pathways in your brain. By starting small, you gain momentum and can ensure that you are doing the habit as frequently as you’ve decided (daily, weekly, etc.) It gives you quick wins so that you can build the muscle of consistency.

As James Clear writes in Atomic Habits, “Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”

Part of starting super small is not deciding to take on 20 new habits at a time. It is easy to get excited about something new, but focusing on one or two habits at a time is key. Otherwise when life happens (and it will- sooner than you think!) we are too overwhelmed to stick with the new habit.

Another recommendation from James Clear that I love: “When choosing a new habit many people seem to ask themselves, ‘What can I do on my best days?’ The trick is to ask, ‘What can I stick to even on my worst days?’ Start small. Master the art of showing up. Scale up when you have the time, energy, and interest.”

Starting super small allows us to “master the art” of showing up and being consistent.

Make a specific plan for habit, including the trigger and reward

The next part of the SMART habits framework is “M”- making a specific plan to ensure habits success. Every habit is triggered by something. Often called the cue in habits research, this can be the time of day, your location, a preceding event, your emotional state, or even other people. When you know the cue, you can then decide the specifics around your habit. For example, “After I brush my teeth every evening, I will floss them.” “When I get in the car to drive to work Monday through Friday, I will take three deep breaths.” Writing down this plan can help solidify it and acts like an affirmation or written contract with yourself.

Every habit is continued because we get some sort of reward from it. As Wendy Wood explains, “Habits are built in the moment, from our experience of pleasure. The selection rule is simple – what we find enjoyable.” Rewards may be intrinsic or extrinsic, and depending on the habit it may make sense to try out a variety of rewards. James Clear talks about identity-based habits, that is, focusing on the person we want to become and proving it to ourselves with small wins. As Clear says, “The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.”

An example of this is my daily exercise regimen. I’ve worked out using Sydney Cummings’ free daily workouts every day since October 1, 2020. What keeps me coming back every day? Part of it is external accountability (we will discuss that in the “T” part of the framework), but the biggest reason is because my core motivation is to be healthy for myself and my family, and to be a good example to my kids. It is intrinsic motivation, not the extrinsic motivation of a leaner physique (although that’s nice as well!)

Other habits may be solidified with an extrinsic reward, such as a self-care activity or having a coffee with friends. The point is to figure out the reward and make it very clear why you are doing something in the first place. The brain loves dopamine as we know, but finding the ideal reward can be tricky. But once you find something that works and doesn’t derail the other habits you’re trying to implement, go for it!

“It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.”

James Clear, Atomic Habits

Add something to make an unhealthy habit more difficult

When it comes to implementing new habits or changing undesirable ones, we can’t just focus on the trigger and the reward. There is an important aspect that starts the habit process, which is the environment. Otherwise known as the context, this is the single most important aspect of setting us up for habit success.

Changing unhealthy habits is no easy feat. Clear uses this analogy which I love, “The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.” When a neural pathway that gives us a reward (hello, checking Instagram!) is deeply entrenched in our brain, it is difficult to change our behavior. So what can we do?

In Good Habits, Bad Habits, Wendy Wood explains that the key to habits success comes down to friction in our environment. If we want to change an unhealthy habit, we have to incorporate restraining forces which makes the undesirable action more difficult. In the case of social media, this could include removing the app from your phone so that you can only access it via your laptop. Other ideas include setting app limits (available for iPhone), time blocking social media for a specific part of the day, or keeping the app hidden beneath several folders on your phone.

Remove something to make a new habit easier

Moving from the “A” to the “R” part of the framework, we can also use what Wood calls driving forces to reduce the friction in our environment between us and our desired action. One fascinating study that Wood mentions in her book is how the distance that people live from the gym impacts their habits. A 2017 study found that people who traveled an average of 3.7 miles to the gym went five or more times a month. Those who traveled around 5.1 miles went to the gym only monthly. Less mileage, less friction.

Remember my almost 10-month exercise streak? One of the reasons I continue to be successful is that I set out everything I need for my workout the night before. Workout clothes, shoes, headband, AirPods, watch, water bottle. When the alarm goes off at 5 AM, I don’t make excuses or fumble around in the dark for my things. It’s an automatic, habitual process made easier by reducing friction.

Track your progress and tweak as needed

Depending on the habit you are trying to implement (or break), social accountability may be a helpful tool for your success. I still text the same group of women daily after my workout is completed, ten months into my exercise habit. If you prefer a different format, there are plenty of apps that can help you (HabitShare is one that I’ve used in the past) or you can simply use a paper and pencil checkmark system. The Seinfeld Strategy, named after comedian Jerry Seinfeld, has a simple premise: Don’t Break the Chain. Try not to miss one day. If you do, definitely don’t miss two. James Clear sums it up nicely: “Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.”

If you notice that you’re having trouble sticking with a new habit, simple tweaks may be all you need. Can you add or remove something in your environment? Do you need a different form of accountability? Do you need to change the reward, or incorporate the new habit into your identity so that skipping it would run counter to your beliefs about yourself? Are you trying to incorporate too many habits at once? Assess, don’t judge. You are not a failure. You just haven’t cracked the code for what works best for this particular habit. Also remember that habits take an average of 66 days to stick. So perhaps you haven’t tried long enough yet to solidify those new neural pathways.

SMART habits: A framework for success

In the long term, healthy habits make our life easier and more meaningful. They allow our brainpower (and energy) to be freed up for important decisions and problem-solving. As Wendy Wood explains, “Fully 43 percent of the time, our actions are habitual, performed without conscious thought.” The question is, how can we make better use of this 43 percent, or even increase it by making our short-term actions that support our identity and beliefs more effortless?

Starting small, making a specific plan, adding or removing friction from your environment, and tracking your progress can help ensure that you maximize the power of habits in your daily life.

In my online course Moms Overcoming Overwhelm, we take a deep dive into habit formation as well as the development of rhythms and routines. You can find out more here!