Tag: SMART goals

Make the Most of December to Improve Your Health and Wellbeing

Welcome December!!! This is a noteworthy day for a variety of reasons, two of which are:

The first day of any month is a reset day.

We all start with a clean slate. Need to get back to good healthy habits? Now is the time. Want to recommit to health goals? Now is the time. Want to set new health goals? Now is the time.

This is the first day of the last month of the year.

That means we’ve all got an opportunity to decide exactly what we want to accomplish to boost our health and wellness in these next 31 days as we say so long to 2020.

My request of you:

DO NOT

DO NOT

DO NOT wait until January to identify small changes to daily living that might improve your health and wellness.

After all, if you run a red light today, you won’t say “Oh the heck with it. I’ll just keep running red lights for the rest of the month, and stop for them in January!”

How will YOU say good-bye to 2020 in the context of your health and wellness goals?
How can YOU improve your health and wellbeing in these next 31 days?

Take a look at this Circle of Life resource. The circle includes 12 categories that the Institute of Integrative Nutrition identified as primary foods. Primary foods feed us as much as the food we put on our plates. Have your primary foods gotten out of balance? The 12 categories are:

Joy                                           Spirituality

Creativity                                 Finances

Career                                      Education

Health                                      Physical Activity

Home Cooking                       Home Environment

Relationships                          Social Life

Make December Count:

    • Complete the Circle of Life exercise.
    • Select one area you’d like to make changes to this month.
    • Put a goal in place. A SMART goal (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound)
    • Get an accountability partner.
    • Celebrate each success as you approach your goal.

Appreciate the gift of December: Take advantage of this final month of the year to spiral up and improve your health and wellness. You’ll be glad you did!!

 

 

Make the Most of December to Improve Your Health and Wellbeing was last modified: December 1st, 2020 by Deb Nelson

Meeting Your Goals: As Easy as 1, 2, 3

You gotta love the number 3. Why, you ask?

  1. We can wrap our arms around this wily number and be a superstar of action.
  2. We are not overwhelmed by focusing on three items. Three just isn’t complicated.
  3. The combination of three is a powerful one. It helps us to understand the full scope of what we’re about to undertake. I often use the power of three when talking about my business: Live Well. Eat Well. Be Well.

So…taking all of this into consideration, I’ve set some goals for myself for the month of June. And…no surprise here…the number three is prominently involved.

My three goals for June:

  1. 30 minutes of cardio every day. I’ve been on vacation this week and have a head start on this one. Setting this as a goal will keep me moving in a positive direction.
  2. Start each day with a glass of water and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I’ve wanted to explore apple cider vinegar for a while. Now is the time.
  3. Drink 64 ounces of water every day. I’ve not been paying much attention to my water intake. It’s a goal, so it has moved up in my priority list.

Some practices I’ll put in place to ensure that I’ll meet these goals:

  1. Make SMART goals. Setting myself up for success is a key element for achieving those SMART goals.
  2. Put an accountability system in place. I’ll be checking in with someone EVERY day – this is a 30-day limited frame remember – who will encourage me to do whatever it takes to stay on track to meet these goals.
  3. Write them down on my calendar – this helps with committing to achieving goals. They become more real and attainable.

If you’ve been thinking about making a few lifestyle changes, now is the time. When you feel like you’re losing momentum:

  1. Connect with your accountability person / team for support.
  2. Listen to the Jackson 5’s ABC.
  3. Take one small step toward one goal, and push those doubts aside.

Let me know what you’re changing up, what challenges you face, and how you plow through those challenges.

Meeting Your Goals: As Easy as 1, 2, 3 was last modified: May 31st, 2018 by Deb Nelson

Challenge Met: Enjoying the Rush of Meeting a Goal

Zig Ziglar knew what he was talking about when he said: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

Entering 2016, I joined the Marathon Sports Winter Warrior Challenge. The challenge for me: run or walk five miles OUTSIDE every day for the month of January. Don’t quite make five miles on any day? No problem. Simply downgrade to three miles or one mile a day. Just can’t get it together to get out one day? No problem there either – you’re out of the challenge.

January can be a downright tough month to be outside in Maine. Apparently Mother Nature wanted me to succeed, though, and provided us with a number of unseasonably warm days – 45 degrees in Maine in January??? Score! No worries for those of you who are wondering if I got off without difficulty in reaching this challenge. I was also outside in wind, rain, snow, and ice.

WW_BLUEThe rewards for meeting this challenge? My name will be listed along with the others who completed the challenge on the back of a t-shirt featuring this handsome guy. More than that, though, as Ziglar’s words imply, this challenge was about setting a goal and following through on my intentions. I wrote about my three words for 2016 earlier this year: Focus. Finish. Follow-through.

So far, this challenge includes two of my words: Focus and Finish. I had to put this challenge at top of mind and make time every day to be outside. There certainly were a couple of days when I just didn’t feel like going outside. I had made a commitment to myself and a friend to participate in and complete this challenge, however, so I put on my winter gear and headed outside. Follow-through will now be to make sure I transition from walking to running over the next 60 days – a longer-term goal that feeds into a goal to run, walk, or crawl 1,000 miles this year. Thanks to the Winter Warrior Challenge, I’ve already walked 161 miles.

So, what was the key to my success in getting my sedentary self out of the house to achieve this goal? Several factors were key to ensure that I met this goal:

Accountability – I had an accountability partner who was doing this challenge with me. Since she lives in Massachusetts, we weren’t walking or running together. Instead, we stayed connected via text messages and phone calls. There was no way I was going to leave her high and dry by not completing this challenge.

Support System – I had announced to some friends and, of course, my husband that I was entering this challenge. My husband accompanied me on weekend days when he could, and a friend of mine was able to fit a walk into her schedule just when my resolve was wavering. Timing is everything!

Immediate Gratification – I had to go online to confirm that I had, in fact, walked or run five miles each day. I was able to get a lift by meeting each day’s challenge and seeing the cumulative number of miles that I’d walked. And…the challenge was for one month only: the end was always in sight.

Long-term Impact – As I mentioned, this challenge fits into my year-long goal to walk or run 1,000 miles. (I hope to avoid crawling.) It will also get me in shape to run a 5K in March and to hop on my bike in April.

Challenge goals blogSMART Goal – This challenge fit right into the SMART Goal theory. It was specific, measureable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

Unintended Consequences – Not only did I became a morning person (who would ever have thought that was possible?), but I also became much more productive over the past month.

Success breeds success. I’m looking forward to experiencing and sharing more successes in 2016. How about you?

Challenge Met: Enjoying the Rush of Meeting a Goal was last modified: February 2nd, 2016 by Deb Nelson