Chances are that if you've ever had a goal, you know that when the linguists of yore conceived the word, they wanted to ensure that it was capable of (1) being yelled loud and long at sporting events ("Goooooooooooooooooooooal!"); and (2) supporting an appropriate acronym. 

Go

Out

And

Learn.

Fabulous!  Go out and learn!  Anyone can do that anywhere any time.  "What happens when I jump up?  Where is that smell coming from?  Is there an e on the end of tomato/e?  How do I actually, not just theoretically, lose weight?"  Learn learn learn learn learn.

But how do I know when I'm done, when I've achieved my goal?

So linguists of a little later yore came up with the word smart.  (Note: I bet their computer thesaurus didn't offer synonyms like elegant, neat, and chic.  Surely those words are synonyms for smart, but that's not what I was going for.  Does my computer not see my flannel pajamas and the fuzzy slippers on my tootsies?  But I digress.)

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-related

What's the point?  I really needed to define my Lighten Up goal more specifically than "I don't want to be fat."   Blogging this morning has been a very helpful  exercise (exercise -- woohoo!).  I now have a smart goal.  

Now that I've identified my smart goal (don't worry, it's just a few more words down the page... I mean screen), I can work on achieving it. 

 

Here it is:

 

So that I get to continue into the second half of Lighten Up 2014,

by and on April 26 I will weigh 5% less than I did yesterday morning.

 

For those of you who don't read Bookshelf Symbol 7:

So that I get to continue into the second half of Lighten Up 2014,

by and on April 26 I will weigh 5% less than I did yesterday morning.

 

Specific?  Yep.

Measurable?  You betcha.

Achievable?  Yes.

Realistic?  Absolutely.

Time-related?  Yeppers.

 

How am I going to achieve my goal?  Well, that's what this blog is going to be about, so be sure to add the URL to your favorites if you'd like to follow along. 

And if you want to read about my 1st go at Lighten Up a few years ago, check this out.