It is never too late to set new goals for yourself to improve your self care and wellness routine.
You’ve probably heard how as many as 80% of people give up on the goals they’ve set. Why do so many well-intentioned resolutions fall flat? The answer is that many New Year’s goals are simply unreachable.
This guide breaks down how you can set realistic, reachable wellness goals for the new year. Read on to learn more.
Understanding What’s Realistic For You
The first and most important step to setting reachable goals is to understand what’s realistic for you. While it may seem like an obvious step, it can involve some introspection. Before you start setting goals and making plans, take a few moments to sit down and evaluate your life.
How often do you exercise? What does your diet look like? How much sleep do you get each night? Who are you surrounding yourself with? Do you have adequate time for self care and rest? How often do you feel anxious and overwhelmed? Do you feel energized?
Grab a piece of paper and write down answers to each of these questions. This will help you understand where you’re at in your health journey so you can gauge realistic marking points for where you want to go.
As you perform this step, it’s vital not to compare your health journey to those you see around you. While it’s alright to gain inspiration from those in different stages of health than you, it’s important to understand that you may be in a different place. And that’s okay!
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to wellness. When it comes to your health journey, only you can truly know what’s best for your life. Taking time to understand where you’re at and what goals you want to achieve can help you set reachable health goals in the new year.
Let’s take a look at some more helpful tips below.
Take it One Step at a Time
There’s an old piece of advice for professional athletes and runners – when you run, it’s best to choose a spot a few hundred feet in front of you, instead of looking all the way to the finish line. This way, when you reach the spot you’ve been looking at, you can look ahead to the next spot, and the next, and so on. Before you know it, you’ve reached the finish line!This proves to be much more effective for long distance runners as opposed to staring down the finish line, which will seem like a much longer and harder goal to reach.
In essence, taking your goals one step at a time is a great way to break them up into bite size pieces. There’s no need to try and fit the whole goal at once. Choose steps and break up your large goals into smaller, individual goals.
Start with the Easiest Step
When taking it one step at a time, you may be wondering which step to start with. You may assume you should start with the hardest step, but this can actually cause burn out and even lead to giving up if you fail.
It’s best to start with the easiest step. Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to set a wellness goal for the new year of running three miles each week. You may be tempted to jump into running three miles at a time, but this can lead to burn out, and even injury.
Instead, start by walking half a mile each day, or every other day. This not only helps you get your body moving without the risk of injury, but it also helps you warm yourself up to reach larger goals. Once you’ve successfully walked half a mile a few times each week, you can increase how much you walk or how often.
Slowly, you can incorporate jogging, and before you know it, you’ve reached your goal and will be looking for the next one.
Establish Habits, Not Just Routines
When taking it one step at a time, a habit can go a long way. What exactly is a habit? In short, a habit is a practice you’ve grown to do almost involuntarily. There are both good and bad habits, some we try to do intentionally, and others we do by default.
For instance, waking up and looking at your phone may be a habit you didn’t intend to set, but have nonetheless. Instead of simply setting a routine or schedule for your goals, establish them into habits. How can you do this? Here’s what you should know.
First, if you do decide to start a new habit, practice the step before this and start with smaller habits first. This will help you turn small habits into larger habits.
Next, practice your new habit at the same time and same place every single day. Most research points to 21 days as the magic number for establishing a habit, but we’d recommend at least 30 days. After this point, your routine should turn into a habit.
Focus on Efficiency
When setting new goals, you don’t always have to go the long way around. Focus on efficiency and performing activities as effectively as possible. Here’s an example.
Let’s say your goal for the new year is to refresh your mind and body with wellness through nutrients. Nutrients can be integrated in your body through many methods, some more effective than others. While diet and vitamin supplements are excellent, they don’t always cut it.
This is where ivee comes in handy. Our online health platform allows you to access the nutrients you need without waiting for your food or vitamin supplement to absorb into your bloodstream.
How do we do this? IV therapy. If you’re considering supporting your physical and mental nutrition through nutrients, ivee can help deliver them directly to your bloodstream! While you optimize your wellness in the new year, let us help optimize how your wellness is delivered.
Summary
Taking care of yourself is important, and it’s never too late to set new goals for yourself. Understanding what’s realistic for you and taking things one step at a time can help make self-care more manageable. Start with the easiest step and establish habits, not just routines. When it comes to self-care, focus on efficiency so that you can stick to your routine without feeling overwhelmed. What are some steps you want to take to improve your wellness routine?
