Tips for setting 'smart' goals for the new year

(WJBK) - You may not be the new year's resolution type, and that's okay. But let's say you do want to set some goals for yourself. 

How can you do just that? Just remember one word -- SMART. 

The struggle is many of us have an all or nothing approach. 

"We have a mentality of being all or nothing, like we're either on a diet or off a diet; we're either exercising or we're not exercising. I think it's healthier - and I think you'll see better outcomes - if we do make small, little changes," says Silvia Veri. She's a registered dietitian at Beaumont's Weight Control Center.

She says once you set out to make small changes and once you accomplish them you feel good and move on to the next small change. 

So here's the word to remember: SMART. Set "smart" goals. 

"The "S" is specific; the "M" is measurable; the "A" is achievable; the "R" is realistic; and the "T" is for time," explains Veri.

It's tempting to set big, broad goals like losing 20 lbs. or to work out every day. But Veri says being the more specific, the better. 

A specific goal, she says, would be to say I'm going to cut out four cans of pop a day and replace it with carbonated water.

That goal checks off all the boxes. It's specific; it's measurable; it's achivable; and realisitic. Keep this in mind, you have to know what you're capable of. 

In the news business, we all need a deadline, and it turns out in life that's good, too. Give yourself a deadline, a timeline, to acomplish your goal. 

"If you don't give yourself a timeframe and just say, well, at some point in time I'm going to cut out this regular pop, it enver will really happen," says Veri. 

Posting your goals around the help, along with a reward and peer pressure can help you succeed. 

Put some money in a jar and if you complete your goal for the week you pay yourself.

Secondly, suround yourself with peole you want to be as you'll find strength in numbers.