2018. Day 1.
Today is the day where we start our resolutions for the new year. But lets face it, we usually end up abandoning our goals by the end of the month. What I have learned in my schooling and in the health and wellness industry is that having a well structured goal will help you be more successful in the long run. Below I have listed a few things to keep in mind when planning out your New Year’s resolutions.
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1. When making your goals be sure that they are specific and not too vague.
This is mistake number one in goal setting. We can get into a habit of saying what we want, but have no context behind it. For example, here is a common goal I deal with in my profession.
“I want to lose weight.”
Yes, its short and to the point, but you have to ask yourself the questions who, what, when, where, why and how. There needs to be a plan behind the goal.
2. Be able to measure progress with your goal.
When measuring progress, I try to think of something numerical to measure. With our example goal we can measure progress in pounds lost, so lets update our goal.
“I want to lose 50 pounds”
Now, we have a way to measure progress, but sometimes with other goals it may be hard to measure something numerically. When we can’t measure numerically we have to find other ways to track progress. Let’s take one of my goals for this year.
“Stick with a good skin care routine.”
If you know me you know I’ve struggled with acne since high school. I’ve always had good hygiene and I’ve went to the dermatologist, but I’ve never been consistent or invested in my skin care. With this goal we can document progress in two different ways. The first way is visual progress with my skin and I can track this by photos throughout the weeks of implementing and sticking with a good routine. The second way is by keeping a journal of how my routine is going, what products that I try and whether I like/dislike them, when breakouts happen, etc. This is method is more in-depth, but beneficial for something that is always changing.
3. Make your goal accomplishable.
We can tend to get out of hand with our goals sometimes. We are so motivated and determined to reach them that we will do crazy things to reach them. We will deal with the “when?” and “how” portion of our goal setting strategy in this upcoming section.
With our example goal of 50 pounds weight loss we need to set and end time for this goal.
“I want to lose 50 pounds in 6 months”
Now, we have a time frame to meet our goal. However, when setting a time frame think to yourself if you can complete this goal in that amount of time. Be realistic as well, it difficult and unhealthy to lose 50 pounds in 2 months, so that’s why I selected the 6 month time frame. If the goal was 10 pounds that can most likely be accomplished in 2 months. Setting a time frame will help you stay on track to keep you motivated to meet this goal in a timely manner.
As a whole, our goal is looking pretty darn good. We are specific, we can measure progress, and plan to accomplish this goal in a designated time frame. The next part is the “how?” This is our game plan now, how are we going to tackle this goal. Let’s take it by a daily and weekly basis.
Daily. Think of things you can change throughout your day that will help you progress to your goal.
- Eat 2-4 servings of vegetable a day
- Take the stairs at work
- Have one coffee at work, but the rest of the day drink water.
Weekly. Same mindset here, what can you do in your week to help meet your goal.
- Attend three 30 minute exercise classes per week
- Prep meals ahead of time
- Take dogs for a long hike on weekends
I’m very into checklist, so when I plan my week out I try to include these in my calendar to help stay on track.
Alright, so now we have a well structured new year’s resolution and making it wasn’t even the hard part. The hard part is executing your plan and sticking with it. I like to think of a broken bridge when I talk about goals and making progress. You have a start point and an end point, but you have to get across the river to get to the end of the bridge. Think of the river being all the small obstacles that you have to get over to reach the end and each small accomplishment you make adds a plank to your bridge to help you get across.
Before you rush off and start, here are some other things to keep in mind when trying to accomplish your goals.
- Document your progress on paper. This will allow you to see how far you have come and can give you the motivation to keep going.
- Find multiple sources of motivation. Figure out what internally motivates you to reach your goal and find support from friends and family to keep you going. You can even set a reward for meeting your goal.
- Be prepared to face challenges. Not every path is nice and straight. There will be ups and downs as you progress and the best way to deal with them is to be prepared.
- Don’t overwhelm yourself. Setting too many goal can just be down right stressful. Narrow it down to three main goals to accomplish this year.
You are all set to make the best New Year’s resolutions ever! Look out 2018!
If you want to contact me for help with goal setting check out the Contact section of my blog.
-K.Speer
Kayla Speer Health and Wellness 