Don’t Be a New Year Drop-Out!
The start of a new year is often looked at as a great time to make changes in life, be it to lose weight, explore hobbies, stop smoking, or spend more time with family. January finds people investing in exercise plans and classes, determined to meet goals. A few weeks later, not so much. So how do we achieve the grand goals we set for ourselves? It turns out, similar to creating a SMART goal, regardless of the topic of the goal, the achieving it will involve very similar planning.
Set a good, SMART goal
If your goal is not specific or is unrealistic, then chances of you meeting it are slim. Check out https://www.tnchiro.com/news/ready-set-smart-goals-go/ for more information on setting your goal.
Get more sleep
Lack of sleep can affect the body in so many ways that are counterproductive to reaching a goal. It can contribute to an increase in appetite and make it harder to lose weight. Fatigue can also make it harder to concentrate, leading to difficulties in focusing on the work project or hobby that you want to complete or new skill you want to learn.
Unplug and de-stress
Spend time each day away from technology. This can help with both stress levels and sleep quality. Self-care, including proper nutrition, healthy movement, stress management are all vital to overall wellness. Your doctor of chiropractic is a great resource for information on healthy eating and movement and can help you detect areas where you may need a little attention. Additionally, stress can cause muscles to tighten and cause pain. Your chiropractor can help you with stretches to help alleviate muscle soreness and tightness caused by stress as well as perform spinal or extremity adjustments on any areas that have been pulled out of alignment by those tight muscles. If you aren’t feeling well, you won’t feel like working on any type of goal.
Visualize your goals.
Writing down your goal is part of the setting SMART goals system. But if you think you need a little more encouragement, tap into your inner artist and make a “MOTE” (motivation) or “Vision” board. Clip photos, memes, quotes, whatever speaks to you and put them all together on 1 page. It’s ok if it reminds you of a kindergarten art project. It will tap into a different part of the brain and help you grasp the concept more deeply. Better yet, Business Communicator and MBA Molly Cain suggests you ask a friend or loved one to do it with you. Then you can each be accountability partner for the other.
Share your goal.
Tell people. Not just 1 or 2 accountability partners, but tell other friends, family and colleagues. Anyone who you trust to be supportive of your endeavors. Maybe even share it more publicly if you want to – who knows, that social media friend you haven’t seen since your high school graduation may have a similar goal. It can be a way to reconnect and support each other in a new way.
Make a Commitment – to YOU!
When all is said and done, your goal is YOURS. And it will impact you more than anyone else. YOU have to do the work. You will receive the benefits. Make a commitment to yourself, FOR yourself. There’s a saying “It’s funny how day by day, nothing changes but when you look back everything is different.” This holds true in many ways for goal setting and being successful in reaching the goals. A week, a month, a year from now, that time will have still passed. It’s up to you how to spend today to make that future better.
RESOURCES:
“17 fool-proof ways to stick to your New Year’s resolutions” posted on msn.com, originally appeared in Eat This, Not That!
Cain, Molly “6 Ways to Achieve Any Goal” Forbes March 14. 2013 https://www.forbes.com/sites/glassheel/2013/03/14/6-ways-to-achieve-any-goal/?sh=b7eb1e164065
Ram, Shane. “Why Mindset is NOT Everything and what you should work on First” April 6, 2021. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-mindset-everything-what-you-should-work-first-shane-ram?trk=read_related_article-card_title