As promised here is your monthly check in to see how those New Year’s resolutions are going. Did you stick with your one big goal for the month? Add others ones in? Or totally fall of the wagon?
If you stuck with it for the whole 30 days good job! Now it is time to look to what is the next goal for you this month. Is it to stay with what you are doing? Or move it the next level? Add 10 minutes to that morning walk or focusing on eating vegetables at every meal?
For those of you that fell off the wagon that is ok! You are not alone. Trust me! However, I would suggest looking at if that goal is really important to you. Does it really get you to where you want to be? More importantly, is it a goal you want or just one you feel you should want to do?
I find that often clients go for a goal that is not their own but rather something they have been encouraged to do by a friend. Or that they were influenced by the latest diet trend…Keto anyone?
So, for those of you that this last month was not successful I encourage you to look at what you really want to do. And don’t come back with “Well I really would love to eat potato chips on the couch all day!”
What I mean is what can you do to be healthier without feeling overwhelmed. That feels doable in the craziness of life. What can you do to be consistent in your daily life to improve your health?
Consistency is the key to achieving any goal. Over the last 20+ years of helping people to become healthier I’ve learned that consistency is hard. It is not always easy to do the stretches that you know make your back feel better or to eat the vegetables you know will help lower your cholesterol or help with weight loss.
That is why I encourage my clients to focus on one thing at a time. When we are overloaded with too many tasks to reach one goal usually we become overwhelmed. Practicing consistency will eventually become habit and thus, less hard.
So, your assignment this month:
Write out your ultimate goal….again. Then next to it write out 3 things that will help you to get to that ultimate goal.
For Example:
Ultimate goal: Loss 20 lbs this year.
Mini goals:
(1) Walk 30-45 minutes 4-5 times per week.
(2) Slow down eating at meals. Put my fork down in-between bites.
(3) Add Vegetables to each meal.
Then pick one mini goal to do. Write it on your calendar. Place a post note where you will see it every day. Set an alarm on your phone.
Each week revisit this sheet. Rewrite these goals again and evaluate what worked that week and what did not. Make a note of what made that week successful. Or what did not make it successful.
Most importantly celebrate small successes. Realize that no one is perfect!
What is that saying? “When eating an elephant take one bite at a time.”
Next month: Journaling to help with achieving your goals.