can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. Reaching your Wellness Goals Having goals in our lives is important. They offer us challanges, bring about positive change, and improve our quality of life. The problem with many goals is that we set them, but never follow through with an action plan to reach them. Learning to create and execute an action plan can spell the difference between a successful accomplishment, or just another goal that quickly comes and goes. Goals make your actions intentional - on purpose, on task. There should be a direct connection between what you want and what you do. Once you have determined your main goal, write it down and read it every day. Set yourself a deadline of when you want to achieve these goals. Write down why you want reach this goal and how it will make you feel. Break down your goal and create an action plan. Be S.M.A.R.T. about your Goals Specific Goals that are specific are much more likely to be accomplished than goals that are general. To set a specific goal, ask yourself the 5 W questions: WHO: Who is involved? WHAT: What do I want to accomplish? WHERE: Identify a location. WHEN: Set clear timeframes. WHY: Why is this important to me? Measureable- Establish concrete material for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. To determine if your goal is measureable, ask questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished? Attainable -Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably won t commit to doing. Although you may start with the best of intentions, the knowledge that it s too much for you means your subconscious will keep reminding you of this fact and will stop you from even giving it your best. Timely - A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied there is no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. If you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal. T can also stand for Tangible - A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable. Small Steps...Big Results! Most of us have big goals in our lives- we want to retire early, we want to lose 50 pounds, and we want to live to be 101. Reaching a large goal does not happen overnight. Having a larger, long-term goal is great, but learning to break that goal down into smaller steps will make it easier for you. Think of reaching your goals as climbing a ladder. It s difficult to reach the top of the ladder without taking the rungs one at a time. Goal: I want to lose 20 pounds I will start bringing a lunch with healthy grains, protein & vegetables to work I will make an appointment to tour my health club & get some information on fitness classes & personal training. I will begin taking the stairs at work every day. I will start eating healthy foods every 3 hours, and will cut out my late night snacking. Mental Attitude, Clarity and Preparation Just as your body will change at various steps throughout your journey to better health, so too, will your perspective, emotions, and your level of focus. Learning to anticipate these changes will help you stay committed to reaching that healthier, happier you. Realistic - To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal You need to embrace a positive mental attitude in order to succeed. You are the one who makes the choice to live a
healthy or unhealthy life. It is our understanding of the POWER we possess to make personal choices that will make the dreams that we all have become reality. It is having a positive attitude about life and the goals that you are striving to achieve that will enable you to be successful in your fitness goals. Keep your positive mental attitude in check all the time. Getting Started... New and fresh goals are exciting! The very early stages are likely where you will find the most motivation, focus, and readiness to begin. You ve thought about what you want to change about your lifestyle, and just the idea of living a healthier life is great inspiration. Unfortunately, this stage often does not last long. As real life gets in the way, you start to encounter physical, mental, and emotional barriers that all at once can make your goals for a healthier life seems impossible. As soon as your goal is in place, write about those feelings of excitement and focus. What is giving you that motivation to succeed? How does it make you feel when you think about losing that extra weight or running that marathon? When you start to feel that initial excitement wear off, refer back to these feelings, and remind yourself why you started this journey in the first place. Remember to always keep your motivating factors fresh in your mind! In the early stages, introducing new lifestyle habits is tough. When the initial excitement of your goal wears off, you are likely to experience bouts of lethargy and lack of motivation, and you may start to doubt your capabilities. However, if you have properly prepared for these feelings, getting refocused is much easier. Say you have set a goal of getting to the gym twice a week. You did great for the first week, but then your muscles started to feel sore, you feel rundown, and the thought of staying on the couch after work seems much more appealing than hitting the treadmill again. How will you combat this mental battle? At the mid-way point... The half-way there point is an important time to reevaluate your progress, to re-fresh your motivation, and to celebrate the work you have done. Review the feelings you wrote about in the early stages, and re-commit to them. Having seen some progress, it can become tempting to put yourself into coast mode. After all, 10 pounds lost is better than nothing right? While losing 10 pounds is definitely something you should be proud of, don t let yourself settle! You set that goal of 20lbs for a reason don t lose sight of that. Make sure that every day you are planning how you need to progress and do better. The mid-way point of your journey to a healthier life is also a great time to remind yourself to stay wellinformed and educated. Give yourself a challange! Refresh your inventory of healthy recipes, do some reading on the benefits of circuit training, find out what personal training is all about, and add some new exercises to your gym routine. Learning about the newest ideas and research in health and wellness is a great way to stay in the know, and to keep your motivation high. After you meet your initial goal... Reaching that initial goal will bring a great sense of pride, joy, and sometimes, disbelief! Celebrate your success with the people you care about. Sharing your story is a great way to motivate others, and can be an incredible source of encouragement to peers who may be considering making some healthy changes in their own lives. Having accomplished what you originally set out to do, it is important to take at look at your new lifestyle, and decide where you want to go next. You ve lost 20 pounds. Maybe now is a good time to look at improving your strength. You ve stopped eating fast food. Perhaps now you can look enrolling in a few cooking classes. You ve joined a learn-to-run program. Who s to say you can t train for a half-marathon? You ve taken the stairs for 4 weeks at work. Have you thought about starting a walking group with your colleagues? What you achieve in your lifetime is totally up to you. If a healthy lifestyle is something you desire, make the commitment to get there...one goal at a time!
Accountability Despite even the best intentions, goal achievement is difficult when there are no accountability methods in place. Selfmotivation is difficult to maintain. Maybe you have told yourself a million times that you would get healthy, lose weight, join the gym, stop smoking...did you have accountability tools in place? Learning to answer to yourself and to others may be what was missing before! Use these accountability strategies to stay focused and on track: Write things down As you develop your short and long-term goals, keep track of them in a chart. Tracking progress of the small thing, and keep your log or journal in a place where you can refer to it often. Review your goals regularly Don t lose sight of what you want to achieve. Look at your goal logs on a daily and weekly basis, and remind yourself of where you want to be 1 week from now, 1 month from now, and 1 year from now. Develop a network of support from friends and family Talk to the people you trust about goals you set and things you want to accomplish. As you work toward your goals, your network of friends of family will be curious about your progress. Sharing your successes and your struggles will help you to stay accountable. Develop a network of support from fitness professionals and surround yourself with people who have the same interests. Building this network of people with help inspire you to succeed. This network will become important when you have questions or hit roadblocks. You can learn new habits and ideas from these people which will help your progression. Prepare for Obstacles Your journey to success will not come without setbacks. Take the time to brainstorm what obstacles you may encounter, and develop methods to overcome them. For example, perhaps you have a goal of losing 20 pounds, but you anticipate that a vacation you have booked may set you back. Develop a plan of attack before you leave for vacation what days will you exercise when you are away? How will you incorporate vegetables into your diet each day? Preparation is vital to your success! Dealing with Hurdles Without a goal and a plan, most people get knocked out by the first problem that comes their way. Successful people have a different mindset - a solution mindset. They are problem solvers; constantly looking for the best way to move past obstacles. They ask how they can move along, then, take the steps they need to in order to stay on track. You're going to face each day armed with action steps, and a system you will use to keep yourself accountable for how you spend your time. Your goals will be constantly in front of your face so you remember where you're going. Common Road Blocks My days are so long and stressful. I am mentally exhausted and just need to go home and relax. Stop and ask yourself: How important is health to you? How important are your goals? How do you feel when you are healthier? Making the time to work out will relieve stress and give you the mental clarity you need to challenge yourself for the next day. If you are exhausted at night then make the time in the morning to exercise. Make yourself accountable to someone else, whether it s a workout partner or someone that will make sure you are motivated to get up and get going. Set goals and create consequences for not reaching those goals. It s hard with children. I feel guilty because I do not see them all day, then I leave them to exercise. You can be a much better parent if you are energized and feel good enough to play with your children. The energy and mood elevation from exercise will help you get off the couch and get active with your kids. There are also many additional things you can do with your children to help get you active. Try coaching in their sporting games instead of sitting and watching. When you are watching them participate in sports, get up and walk around, and do some calf raises. Help them train at home to be a better athlete. Take them out for a run or create some exercises you can do at home together. You can start this at any age no matter how young. Just get creative by playing tag with them or creating obstacle courses: whatever, it takes! I feel like I cannot manage my life and find the time to exercise. I need to get home and see my family, clean the house, make breakfast, lunches or supper. I have household obligations. You can always find time for you. You need to set aside a specific time that is your time. Let your friends and family know that this is your time. To serve and help others well you need to help yourself. You also need to look at how you spend your time. Are you using your time efficiently? Make a
list of when and how long you participate in unhealthy habits. Redirect this time and get active. Also, look at how you can get more active while going about your daily life. Exercise can be accumulated throughout the day. Go for a 30 minute walk before work. Take an exercise break at lunch by climbing the stairs at work or finding a quite spot to do some lunges. Play chase with your kids when you get home. There is a world of exercise possibilities to help you get active. I have no motivation! It s just easier just to complain and make excuses. I am comfortable and complacent which makes it hard to make the change. The problem with becoming complacent is your quality of life may deteriorate. The things that you like to do now will become more difficult as you get older. Your habits may worsen and you may slip into living an unhealthy lifestyle that will become harder to control. People are habitual. You need to create a habit of living healthy. I am faced with constant road blocks. Every time I try and get started it seems something else comes up which takes me away from my goals. It s hard to constantly re-start. Exercise does not have to be all or nothing. You can always intertwine a healthy lifestyle into a busy lifestyle. Make exercise an accumulated habit throughout the day -every day. This way, when you are faced with these road blocks, you know that although you may not have been able to exercise that day for a set period of time, you have still fulfilled the day being more active. I find the holidays difficult and I am always out at social events where there is alcohol and poor food choices. Your goal always has to be at the forefront of your mind. It has to mean something to you. If you want to live a healthy lifestyle then you should realize that you will always be faced with unhealthy choices. You need to choose which lifestyle you want to live. Do you need to eat and drink the foods presented to you? Say no thank you. Just because you are out at business events or social events does not mean you need to drink or eat the foods presented to you. I find the seasonal changes difficult to keep up with my goals. Life gets busy, changes happen and they distract me from my goals. You need to take advantage of the seasons that you are presented with. Every season offers you fun activities you can take advantage of. Buy yourself a bike, snow shoes, cross country skis or a good pair of winter boots for a great winter hike. If you are in an exercise routine make sure you do not lose sight of your habits when the seasons change. During the winter months some people tend to feel depressed or blah and become less active. This is often due to a lack of Vitamin D and our tendency to go into hibernation mode. You can always talk to your doctor about supplementing with cod liver oil which has Omega 3 s plus vitamin D. Check out your local health food store and ask questions about supplementing with a quality Omega 3 or vitamin D. I am afraid to start an active lifestyle because I do not know how or where to start. I feel overwhelmed, which discourages me from starting. Why not try and find a workout buddy. Find someone that will hold you accountable to working out as well someone you can learn with. It will be important for you to find a support network and take the time to educate yourself about nutrition and proper exercise. You could hire a professional to help guide, educate, and get you off to the right start. You can purchase a fitness magazine, book or check out online resources that can help you learn different exercises. Try and learn one new exercise every day. If you exercise in a health club take one day and go through and learn all the machines. Learn how to adjust the machines and take the time to read the instructions. You can also try out a fitness class. You can learn a lot by participating in these classes. I am insecure about myself. I am afraid that people will stare at me or judge me if I start to exercise. I am embarrassed because I do not know what I am doing. Have you thought about working with a personal trainer who can help you reach your goals and give you the proper guidance? If this is not an option you can always start with baby steps. Educate yourself by learning one new exercise a day and try it at home. You can also look at going into a women s only section of a health club or try out the aquatic classes until you feel comfortable. Think positive and follow through on your goals. Take a step by step approach. I have trouble finding any enjoyment in becoming active. I do not like exercise or the way it makes me feel. You need to challenge yourself all the time. Try new things so you can find out what type of exercise you do like. Challenge yourself to try things out of your comfort zone. This can be a great way to laugh and have fun! Remember to give it time. It will take a while to get use to something and to create a habit. Find a friend or workout partner to go through this journey with you.
Putting it all together Lack of knowledge; I really do not think that I need this. I am healthy enough. Smoking never hurt anyone I knew. I am 60 and nothing has happened to me so far. I get my exercise doing housework. I have better things to do with my time. They re so healthy and look what happened to them. You need to keep educating yourself on the benefits of being healthy! If you are not equipped with the knowledge of why you need to do this, then you will always find excuses not to. Identify your own weaknesses It is important to identify your own road blocks. Write down what your true weakness is and create an action plan to overcome these road blocks. Identify your own strengths What are your key strengths? Are you an early riser. Do you have strong will power? Are you good at learning new things! Once you find out what your strengths are you will be able to put in place an action plan that will help utilize these strengths. Focus on Success! Plan, measure, have daily improvements and reward your successes. Creating Habits and Routines Brainstorm possible habits and routines. Habits can be called nature's little "freebies". This step of creating good habits is maybe the most important because humans are cyclical. We have a natural cycle of highs and lows. Whenever we start something new and exciting we are overflowing with motivation and we have no problem getting to the gym to workout. What happens when the newness of the goal wears off and the excitement diminishes? Going to the gym starts to become "work". We start having to think about it, ponder it, and force ourselves to take action. When you do things habitually your subconscious mind just takes action. One extremely helpful way to create habits is to get into a daily routine. For example when you get up in the morning and get ready for work or school do you actually think and ponder over each step? Usually you just go through the motions, taking almost zero mental energy to do it. When setting your goals, here are a few other things you should keep in mind: Maintain a positive attitude. Your mental outlook is vital in your success. If you are constantly thinking negative and getting down on yourself, chances are your success and your happiness will be limited. Push through the lulls. In the beginning, you may feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Teach yourself to get over the lethargy - your energy will come! Take care of your body from the inside out sleep well, manage your stress, and eat healthy. If you fall off, get back on. One bad meal or skipped workout doesn t have to dictate the course of your day. Recognize your struggle, and put it behind you. Focus on your next meal or our next workout. Recognize what behaviours are keeping you from your goal and which ones will allow you to achieve your goal. Don t procrastinate. Know what you want, and go after it. Not tomorrow, today. Keep a schedule. If time is an issue, find ways to make it fit. Maybe this means you wake up 15 minutes earlier, or you hit the gym over the weekend. Keep your family involved. It is important to understand how your goals may affect your relationships. Keep your family involved in your journey, and make transitions as a family unit, not just as an individual. Source: http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/goal-settingtutorials/smart-goal-setting