SMART Goals are Dumb

Dr. Christian Swann

On this week's episode we're tackling a topic we've been meaning to discuss for a long time: Despite being pervasive in both performance and medical spaces, SMART goals are no actually an evidence based way to change health and fitness behaviors. They may even, in some cases, be harmful.

Our guest, Dr. Christian Swann, is a Professor of Psychology at Southern Cross University in Australia where he leads the Physical Activity, Sport and Exercise Research (PASER) group.

Christian's background is in sport and exercise psychology, and his expertise is in goal setting. His research focuses on how to set goals to increase and maintain physical activity, and he is particularly interested in how different goal setting approaches make us feel while we pursue them — as well as how they influence our mental health.

As part of an international team of researchers he published ⁠⁠"The (over)use of SMART goals for physical activity promotion: A narrative review and critique."⁠⁠ This article aimed to answer a few key questions:

Is the SMART framework based on theory? Is it consistent with existing evidence? Does it consider what type of goal is set? Is it applied consistently? Is it being used as originally intended? Does it carry any risks?

Once you learn the history of SMART goals, some of the answers become a lot less surprising...

Some links to references made during the episode:

⁠"Lifestyle Interventions for Treatment and Remission of Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes in Adults: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Lifestyle Medicine" ⁠Alex ranted about the overuse of SMART goals in this CPG towards the top of the episode.

⁠"The effectiveness of multi-component goal setting interventions for changing physical activity behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis"⁠ this paper by Desmond McEwan et al was mentioned by Christian early in the conversation.

⁠"It Took Away the Trauma of Failing": A Mixed Methods Feasibility Trial of an Open Goals Physical Activity Program" ⁠is another paper by Christian and his team that he mentioned later in the episode.

And since it answers a lot of the FAQs that often come from conversations around goal setting, here's a link to a great summary by Eric Trexler: ⁠An Evidence-Based Approach to Goal Setting and Behavior Change