This is your sign it is time for a quarterly check-in, how are those New Years' Resolutions going?

If you are someone who set new intentions this year regarding your wellness and health, hopefully, you are finding ways to maintain your new habits for a healthy routine. If not, take the time to reflect on how forming new habits are working for you, or not.

When working towards a goal, it must start to feel natural at some point. If you are struggling through the formation of a new habit, it might just not be the right time to get started. For example, if you decide to run the marathon, go vegan and learn piano all at the same time, of course, it is overwhelming.

Start by forming SMART goals that work for your lifestyle and holding yourself accountable along the way.

Make SMART Goals

SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable relevant and timely, and it is a method for making goals that can be achieved.

Using this system you can design a goal that has milestones, isn't too over the top and provides you with feedback about how it is going. Deciding to run a marathon if you have never run before might not be a good choice, because it will end up making you feel incapable. Start with a 10K, set a plan for how often you will run or follow an outlined fitness plan for reaching your goal.

This goal is attainable over a period of time, measurable because you can track how far you run and relevant to the great goal you wish to achieve.

Keep this in mind as you start to re-evaluate your health and wellness goals.

Related: How To Set SMART Goals

Evaluate All The Areas You Want To Improve

 

When you think of health and wellness, what comes to mind? Most people say diet and nutrition, but really there is a wide range of health aspects to keep in check. How much water are you drinking? Are you getting good consistent sleep? Maybe your health and wellness goals include creating more mindfulness, making time for meditation or a daily checklist of things to do for yourself.

Look at the big picture. If your goal is to be healthier, it isn't as simple as going to the gym and eating more leafy greens, take it holistically.

If you want to be healthier, go to the gym but also stay hydrated and learn what kinds of foods you need to eat beforehand. Therefore, not just your goals are specific, but they should have dimensions.

Be Clear With The Goal

 

Once you have evaluated your health and wellness goals, be clear about how to reach them. Make a checklist of things you can reasonably do each day to support healthy habits. Your daily health checklist might look something like:

  • Drink 4 bottles of water
  • Bring fruit and nuts for a snack
  • Exercise for 30 minutes
  • No coffee after 6 p.m.
  • Go to bed by midnight

Having a daily attainable list is a good way to help you stay on track for making the habits that you set out to make more automatic.

Make Sure the Goals Are Attainable

That list contains attainable things you can do each day for your health, that actually support each other. If you go to the gym, stay hydrated and eat goods foods, it will be easier to be in bed on time because you will feel tired.

If you find that it is too difficult to achieve all of your goals, re-evaluate and take a step back. In the end, if you decide to focus more on one aspect than another, it might pay off in the end. Just as long as you are balancing out your mental and physical health, respecting your energy levels is also a form of self-care, and it takes a lot of energy to be on top of your wellness and health all the time.

Related: 10 Ways To Measure Progress Towards A Goal

Hold Yourself Accountable

 

There is a certain responsibility that comes with having these kinds of goals such as the prep. Having the food ready means you have to go to the grocery store with a prepared list, and being gym-ready means not forgetting your gym clothes at home, and washing or swapping them out later.

Sometimes the prep is harder than actually working towards your goals, so that is where you need to focus some energy, on staying organized to reach your health and wellness goals.

The list method is a great way to check things off for your daily wellness, but so is checking in with yourself every once and a while to see how the progress is serving you.

Next: How To Take Advantage Of Your Fitness Watch And Track Wellness

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