SMART Goals Reflection
My goal was to pack lunch and not buy anything from the school cafeteria every (school) day for two weeks.
- I could not spend any money in the cafeteria.
- The lunch had to be complete – I can’t just not eat that day.
According to my guidelines, I achieved my goal. However, I overlooked the fact that I had other ways of getting food, and one time, I found a way to cheat my own system.
I did not spend any money in the cafeteria, and I packed a full, healthy lunch every day. One day, though, I ended up having a spare after lunch and decided to go to Starbucks to get started on some homework. Even though I had a salad ready, I decided to splurge on a wrap and croissant.
While I technically met the criteria, in my mind, I know I had a cheat day and did not 100% achieve my goal.
I found that putting in the effort to make a lunch every night was tiring. The first few days, I was very excited about my goal and tried out new recipes every day. About a week in, however, this excitement faded and I found myself throwing a bunch of ingredients in a tupperware and calling it a lunch.
In addition, I tried to keep my lunches healthy. This ended up with me craving sweets every day after school. I allowed these for myself, since that’s a separate goal for another time!
Next time, I will make my requirements a lot more specific. When making this goal, I didn’t think about the ways I would try to get around it, since I was excited on the first few days. This is something I’ll keep in mind for next time.
As well, if I do this specific goal again, I’ll be sure to plan out each recipe for every day. It became a bit exhausting to figure out what I was packing each time, so having a set list would make things a lot easier.
Once I gather up some more motivation, I will definitely do my best to continue packing lunch every day. I’ll have an occasional exception, but for the most part, it’s a habit I want to keep up.
For now, as long as I pack lunch 4 out of 5 school days, I will be happy with myself.
