We’ve almost made it to 2011! Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? So many of us make big resolutions to give up things we know aren’t good for us (I’ll quit smoking! I’ll stop eating candy!). Somehow, these negative goals don’t seem to work out as well as we would like.
When we set an ambitious goal, it can be overwhelming to stay on track. And if the results aren’t immediate, discouragement can replace the initial gung-ho feeling. Working with my clients, I find that setting smaller goals framed in a positive way make them much more successful. For example, instead of planning to lose 50 pounds, a client may plan to lose 5 pounds. Once this initial goal is reached, we set another 5 pound goal and so on until the 50 pound weight loss is achieved.
Your First Step to a Healthy Year
Think about your current state of health. Are you at an optimal weight? How are your blood pressure and your cholesterol? Especially if you’re diabetic, how is your blood sugar management? Pick one thing that can be better and we’ll start with that (don’t worry, we’ll get to any other improvements you want to make).
Here’s your homework: take an index card and write every single reason you can think of why you want to improve this area of your health. Use more than one card if necessary. And when you’re all done, add one more reason: “Because you deserve to be as healthy as possible”. Read these reasons every single day for the next week, when we’ll take a look at goal-setting.
Tags: goals, Weight Loss
