Health and Wellness Goal Setting: 5 Secrets to Setting Goals That You Can Achieve
Wellness is a state of wellbeing that extends beyond physical health and includes other dimensions, such as emotional, spiritual, occupational, intellectual, and environmental wellness. When all the aspects of wellness are balanced, you feel happy and content with life.
Goal setting helps you to be in control of your lifestyle habits. When setting goals, you need to consider the overall vision for your health and wellbeing. Then, you can set the appropriate goals for the overall vision. Sometimes we have a vision of what we want, but it is hard to get started. Probably you wish to lose some pounds, or you want to eat more fruits and vegetables and cut pout processed foods. Have no idea how to start with health and wellness goal setting? Here are some strategies that will help you to achieve your goals quickly.
Start with the end in mind
How will your goal improve your overall health and wellbeing? Do you want to lose weight? Or do you want to improve strength and endurance? How will optimum health and wellness feel? When you know what you want, you can set goals that can help you achieve your vision. Improved strength can help you have more energy at work, or help you to play with your children or grandchildren. Using that vision, you can now set a goal to exercise frequently and include strength training.
Set SMART goals
A goal should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Setting smart goals makes it easy to attain them, makes you accountable, and helps you to stay focused and committed.
Specific:
A goal needs to be precise. If a goal is vague, like I want to exercise more, it can be hard to achieve it. Write something like, “I will exercise for 30 minutes for five or six days a week.” Another goal could be, “I will eat more vegetables by making sure I put vegetables on half of my plate at every meal.”
Measurable:
You need to have a way to measure your health and wellness goals so that you know if you’ve met them. Instead of, “I want to lose weight,” write, “I want to lose 20 pounds in three months.” A measurable goal provides an excellent opportunity to track and monitor your progress.
Attainable:
Don’t set goals that are not realistic. Lower your expectations on what you can achieve. Don’t say you want to lose 20 pounds in a week. When you set unattainable goals, you tend to be overwhelmed and lose motivation. The feeling of disappointment can discourage you that you quit following a health plan altogether. Say you can run a mile every day, not five miles yet you cant. Break big goals into small achievable goals so that you won’t feel overwhelmed. Start with a mile, then keep increasing as you get used to the new routines.
Relevant:
Set goals that make sense and fit into your life at this moment. Your goal needs to have a purpose; otherwise, you won’t find the motivation to achieve it. Cooking three healthy meals a week is relevant to your long term goal of eating healthy.
Time-bound:
Your goal needs to be having a timeline. Break the long term goal into a few short term goals. Deadlines keep you motivated and put pressure on you to work on what you want to achieve. Give yourself adequate time to achieve your goal. For example, you can safely lose 20 pounds in three months, not in two weeks.
Plan how to overcome obstacles
You will meet obstacles in the way of achieving your health and wellness goals. Don’t talk yourself out of your goals because you have encountered difficulties on the way. Change your approach every time you meet an obstacle. When you set a goal, list obstacles that you may face ahead and plan some solutions. Focus on what you can do - not what you can’t do. For example, you want to exercise five days a week, but you are constraint with time, plan how you can wake up earlier to find time for exercise. You can also incorporate activity in your regular schedule. There are many paths to achieving your goals; don’t quit when you met obstacles. Consider challenges as a learning experience and try another approach.
Stay focused on your goals
Life often throws unexpected curve balls. Finding ways to keep off distractions will help you to achieve your health and wellness goals. To sustain your desired goals, set reminders like alarms to remind you to exercise. You can also use visual reminders such as photos or a menu plan stick on the fridge to remind you what food you had planned to eat.
Keep a picture of the body shape you want to achieve on your dressing table to help you focus on your weight loss goal. Hang a list of your health and wellness goals somewhere visible so that you can see your vision and goals daily. Having constant reminders in your view helps you to stay focused.
Monitor your progress and reward yourself
If you want to lose 30 pounds in three months, you should monitor if you’ve lost about 10 pounds every month. Set weekly or monthly reminders to check your progress. Reward yourself when you have achieved what you set out to do.
It takes about two months for a habit to stick. We set goals every day, targeting to improve our overall wellness. It is essential to set a goal that you can incorporate into your daily habits. When you turn your goals into daily routines, it is easier to achieve them. If you wish to be healthier and happier, these steps will help you set goals that align with your vision. What is holding you back?
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