If you’ve ever been trained in health coaching or nutrition counseling, chances are you’ve heard of SMART goals—those tidy, structured plans that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. They’re a mainstay in many coaching programs and are often considered essential for client success.
But Nested Co-Founder Meg Bowman is rethinking that framework.
In her latest Substack article, “Why I Don’t Use SMART Goals in My Nutrition Practice (And What I Use Instead)”, Meg shares how years of working with clients navigating trauma and nervous system dysregulation led her to realize that traditional goal-setting methods don’t always hold up—especially when someone’s capacity shifts from day to day.
Rather than relying on binary outcomes or rigid metrics, Meg now uses a nervous system–informed approach inspired by Deb Dana’s stretch-to-stress continuum. It invites clients to plan for multiple versions of success:
a “stretch” plan for when they’re feeling resourced,
a “middle ground” for most days, and
a “stressed” plan for when the nervous system is in survival mode.
This structure makes room for flexibility, self-compassion, and regulation—core values we share at Nested.
📖 Read the full piece here, and consider how you might use the stretch-to-stress model in your own work as a trauma-informed coach.