It is officially the new year. A new year typically means a new you with goals for the new year. Are you excited to make some healthy changes in your lifestyle? Whatever goals you set for yourself in 2022, do not call them New Year’s resolutions. If you do, you’re only setting yourself up for failure. Instead, specify your goals and create small goals to aim for this year. Here’s why setting health goals for 2022 will make a massive difference for you.
A health goal is a goal that you set for yourself to take action that will directly or indirectly impact your health. By committing to specific health goals, you prioritize your wellbeing and be more mindful about how your lifestyle affects your health. Adopting health goals can help you break bad habits, establish good habits, and profoundly impact all areas of your life. Focusing on being in better health can improve your relationships, your performance at work, and how you feel about yourself, among other things. A goal can be as simple as dedicating 10 minutes to exercising every day or swapping a food item for a healthier alternative. Small changes are easier to maintain than one significant change, but they’ll probably deliver a broader range of health benefits, too!
Be Specific
Be as specific as possible when setting your goals. Typical New Year’s health goals include “losing weight” and “exercising more.” While both are worthwhile goals, they’re also very broad. You may lose a few pounds in 2022. If you did not exercise in 2021, taking one walk in 2022 will mean achieving your goal. But neither of those have necessarily made you any healthier. If you want to lose weight, what specific things can you do to help you lose weight? Focus on those smaller and more specific objectives, then the outcome you want will follow. You need to trust the process!
Set Smaller Goals
Now, you can give yourself ambitious goals but build up to them rather than setting yourself up to fail. Let’s say your health goal is to exercise for 60 minutes a day. If you currently don’t work out at all, suddenly dedicating an hour a day to exercise is a huge commitment. What’s more, throwing yourself into a difficult fitness plan only increases the risk of injuring yourself, which is likely to discourage you from training once you’re better. Try to break down your goal to make it more achievable and so you can celebrate success. For instance, you could aim to exercise for 10 – 20 minutes per day between January and March. Once you achieve that goal, you can look to exercise for longer or change the intensity of what you do!
Give Yourself a Break
We are not robots. We are human! It is so important to recognize that when setting your health goals for 2022. It is also vital to understand that it is okay if you don’t meet your objective for that specific day. You are not a failure! You will have days when you don’t feel exercising, eating more vegetables, or spending time outside. That’s human nature. So, please don’t beat yourself up about it. Give yourself a break! Be sure to set aside time to rest or even have a day off. This will only make you want to get back to achieving your goals for the year!
Create a Plan
As well as setting a health goal, develop a plan that will help you make it happen. For instance, you might set yourself some health goals at work, such as going for a walk at lunchtime or ensuring you eat a healthier lunch. What can you do to ensure you can achieve them?
- Plan out and prep your meals for the week
- Go for a short walk at lunch for ten minutes
- Find local places where you can enjoy a healthy lunch
- If you bring lunch to work, find pleasant locations you can walk to, and eat outside
You want to develop a plan that will help you to follow through with your small goals!
Involve Others
Lastly, try to involve others with your health goals. You know you may not be the only one of your friends or work colleagues who might be wanting to achieve individual 2022 health goals! Planning your goals with others can be an excellent way to encourage each other to keep going mutually. You can even turn your 2022 health goals into a challenge. Even if you focus on your health goals alone, try to consider telling others what you’re doing or keep a journal to hold yourself accountable.
Contact Us Today
You have the power to transform your health and make profound positive changes to your lifestyle. Make sure to keep your goals simple, and ensure you have everything in place to help you achieve them, and you are sure to have a successful year from a health and wellbeing perspective! You deserve to feel fantastic. At Be Well Lifestyle Centers, we offer various services to improve your wellbeing. Give us a call today or schedule a free assessment!