10 SMART Goals Examples for Building Resilience

The ability to bounce back from stress and adversity is a crucial part of building resilience. That’s why the SMART goal method is a fantastic tool for fostering stability and resilience.

Through these goals, individuals will develop the skills needed to create plans and carry out tasks with greater efficiency and confidence. This article will cover examples of SMART goals to improve resilience in your daily life.

What is a SMART Goal?

The SMART framework will enable you to establish effective goals for better resilience. SMART is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.

Still need clarification? Let’s dive deeper into each SMART criterion:

Specific

Building resilience is a challenging task and requires specific goals for success. The more effort you put into establishing what you want to achieve and how you’ll get there, the more likely you will reach your objectives.

When you fully understand your goal, you can finally take active steps toward achieving it, such as developing coping skills, creating positive relationships, and practicing self-care.

Measurable

Measurability is key to being more resilient; you must measure progress to meet your goal. This SMART criterion will help you recognize any challenges or obstacles that may arise and learn from them as you tread forward. With these considerations in mind, you can set yourself up for lasting success.

Attainable

Realize that starting small is perfectly fine; breaking goals down into smaller steps will further boost your success rate. Naturally, remember to congratulate yourself on making progress, no matter how big or small each step may be.

Relevant

Creating meaningful goals that align with your values will inspire you to arrive at your desired destination. You’ll be able to stay the course even when times get tough, as your core values will help guide you along the way.

Time-Based

With a solid timeline in place, you can ensure that you stay on track and always keep sight of your goals. After all, success is never achieved overnight—it is a process of hard work and dedication that needs to be nurtured over time.

Why Are SMART Goals Important for Resilience?

You should recognize that resilience is an incredibly important characteristic for individuals. It provides people with the strength, courage, and hope to overcome difficult situations.

Having resilience also allows you to take risks and make changes that can result in greater success and satisfaction. But it would be best to set SMART goals to drive progress consistently.

Using the SMART method allows you to attain your goals systematically and efficiently. It holds you accountable for knocking down your objectives one by one.

Following this methodology can help you develop the mental strength to strive toward your intended outcomes. You’ll gain the confidence needed to maintain motivation through hardships and be more resilient in facing adversity.

10 SMART Goals Examples for Building Resilience

Here are 10 examples of SMART goals for building resilience:

1. Identify Your Stressors

“I will look for patterns in my behavior linked to stress and seek help from a therapist or counselor if needed in the next two months. I hope to manage my stress levels better and build resilience in the future.”

Specific: This is specific because the person will look for patterns in their behavior linked with stress and seek outside help.

Measurable: Ensure you get the help you need and make a conscious effort to identify any stressors.

Attainable: This SMART goal is achievable if you take the time to look for patterns and find assistance when needed.

Relevant: Identifying stressors is a pertinent goal for anyone who wants to reduce their stress levels and build greater resilience.

Time-based: Goal attainment is expected within two months.

2. Prioritize Well-Being

“I want to prioritize considering my well-being by setting aside 15 minutes daily to practice self-care. I’ll use this time to meditate, exercise, read, or do something else I genuinely enjoy.”

Specific: The goal is explicit regarding the amount of time that needs to be set aside.

Measurable: Check in with yourself and make sure that you are setting aside 15 minutes every day to practice self-care.

Attainable: This is an achievable goal since it doesn’t require expensive resources and can be done at home.

Relevant: Taking time to practice self-care is vital to well-being and resilience.

Time-based: You need to commit to this goal at least once every day for it to be effective.

3. Keep a Healthy Perspective

“My goal is to have a healthier perspective on life and work by the end of 6 months. I will stay mindful of the big picture, forgive myself and others for mistakes, maintain a work-life balance, and treat people respectfully.”

Specific: The statement is clear and concise, detailing the objective and how it will be achieved.

Measurable: You should proactively follow the listed action items above for success.

Attainable: This particular goal is achievable with enough dedication and practice.

Relevant: This goal can help the individual become more resilient to stressors in their life.

Time-based: You will meet the goal after 6 months.

4. Cultivate Positivity

“I’ll strive to practice positive self-talk and affirmations for 10 minutes daily over the 7 months ahead. I will create a positive environment for myself to help boost my resilience and mental health.”

Specific: This goal defines the practice (positive self-talk, affirmations) and how often you need to do it (daily).

Measurable: You could track the time spent in positive self-talk and affirmations.

Attainable: It is feasible to practice positive self-talk on a daily basis.

Relevant: Cultivating positivity could be helpful for your mental health and resilience journey.

Time-based: The goal should be achieved within 7 months.

positive and happy life

5. Reassess Your Priorities

“To better manage my workload and prioritize effectively, I will reassess my priorities every month until the end of the year. I’ll look at my daily tasks, decide which ones take up more time than necessary, and ensure I’m working on the most critical tasks first.”

Specific: The SMART goal is explicit because it involves assessing priorities every month.

Measurable: The individual could count the number of tasks they successfully prioritize each month.

Attainable: Reassessing priorities is absolutely doable for many people.

Relevant: This is relevant to managing workload and prioritizing effectively.

Time-based: Success is expected by the end of the year.

6. Build Support Network

“Within two months, I want to reach out to my colleagues and peers in the industry, as well as family and friends, to create a support network that I can rely on when times get stressful. Doing so will give me encouragement and advice during tough times.”

Specific: This goal is about actively reaching out to peers and loved ones to create a support network.

Measurable: Count the number of people contacted and how often the support network is used.

Attainable: Reaching out to others shouldn’t be too difficult as long as there is a willingness to start conversations.

Relevant: A support network is a great way to get encouragement and advice during hard times.

Time-based: There is a two-month deadline for this certain goal.

7. Get Enough Sleep

“In order to maintain my energy and productivity, I’ll aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night by the end of one month. I’ll turn off my electronics an hour before bedtime and use that time to relax and unwind. If I can’t fall asleep, I’ll read or meditate for a few minutes before trying to sleep again.”

Specific: You will aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

Measurable: This is measurable because the person can keep track of their sleep hours.

Attainable: This is attainable because they are taking active steps to get enough rest, such as turning off their electronics an hour before bedtime.

Relevant: The goal is appropriate because it helps maintain energy and productivity levels.

Time-based: The statement is time-bound because it has a specific end date of one month.

8. Learn to Adapt

“I’ll take two online courses on adaptability for the following three months. I will practice and develop strategies to remain flexible when facing unexpected changes and challenges.”

Specific: You have precise actions available—take two online courses.

Measurable: Make sure you sign up for the courses and actively participate in them.

Attainable: This is a reasonable goal assuming you have the time and resources to take the courses.

Relevant: This goal relates to your primary objective of improving your adaptability.

Time-based: You should anticipate goal completion within three months.

9. Take Time for Reflection

“I’ll take at least 10 minutes a day to reflect on my thoughts and feelings by writing them in a journal or talking with someone about them for the next four months. That will help me better understand my emotions and reactions to situations, giving me more resilience and a better understanding of others.”

Specific: You know you need to reflect on their thoughts and feelings.

Measurable: You must take at least 10 minutes a day to reflect.

Attainable: This is absolutely doable if given the necessary resources and time.

Relevant: The goal is appropriate for the individual’s desire to develop resilience.

Time-based: Goal attainment will be met within four months.

10. Embrace Challenges

“I will treat challenges as learning opportunities instead of viewing them as problems. I’ll dedicate time each week to brainstorming solutions and developing strategies to help me approach tough situations with confidence and resilience. In two months, I’ll have created an action plan to better cope with difficult challenges.”

Specific: This SMART goal is straightforward because the person has identified actionable steps.

Measurable: Evaluate your progress in creating an action plan and practicing strategies to foster resilience.

Attainable: Tackling challenges with a positive attitude is an achievable goal.

Relevant: This is pertinent to your personal development and can help you become more resilient.

Time-based: You have given yourself a two-month timeline to reach success.

Final Thoughts

Resilience is an essential quality that everyone should strive to develop. Luckily, SMART goals are an excellent approach to improving your ability to respond to life’s challenges.

You will progress more steadily by setting specific and measurable goals. And with enough effort and dedication, you’ll start to see the difference in yourself over time. Recognize that even minor changes can add up to make a big difference in your resiliency.

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Rei Shen

Rei is the founder of Success in Depth. He is passionate about self-improvement and brings years of experience in goal setting to empower readers to reach their aspirations. He has been featured on sites like Yahoo News, AOL, The Epoch Times, and more.