Rock Your New Year!

Post date: Jan 21, 2018 10:39:56 PM

We are officially 3 weeks into 2018, and it's a great time to check in and see how you're making out with your health and wellness goals. One of the best ways to ensure success is to make a plan ... but you must follow through with it. Many of us have the best of intentions at the beginning of the year, and maybe even sat down and wrote out some goals. Today, right now, stop and take account - what steps have you taken to date toward one or more of those goals for 2018? Make note of these on your goal list and say, "Well done!"

I freely admit - I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions. Never have been. I don't particularly like setting personal goals, mostly because it's too much like work. Creating a performance plan on the job was always one of the tasks I dreaded, and doing it at home, too? I'd rather not. Just NOT. But I've learned over the years just how beneficial goal-setting can be. If kept simple, realistic, and measurable, one can glean great satisfaction in the feeling of success in accomplishing those goals.

It's not too late to set goals for the year or even to tweak them. Life events can mean a slight change in direction, even this early in the year. This is not failure; quite the contrary - it means you're just altering things to ensure long-term success, and this demonstrates wisdom. Give yourself permission to change things up as needed throughout the year. Sometimes it's okay to go with the flow!

Rock Your New Year - Where to StartIf you've never set personal goals or have had trouble accomplishing them in the past, there are some great tools out there that can help. One of them is called 'S.M.A.R.T.' goal setting, wherein each letter of the word stands for something in the goal-setting process: S = Specific; M = Measurable; A = Attainable; R = Relevant; T = Time Bound. If you can set goals around these parameters, you'll be much more likely to accomplish them.

Just recently, thanks to the Leadership Team of Walk 15®, I learned of two more letters to add - E and R... making them 'SMARTER' goals. I love it! E = Evaluate, which is what I've asked you to do today, even though we've really just got the year going. R... is my new favorite... REWARD! Yes, you can plan to REWARD yourself when you've achieved a goal! Now don't go overboard and consider a binge on ice cream Sundays as a reward... keep the rewards healthy. Maybe one ice cream Sunday... or gelato... for me, gelato would be a lovely reward! LOL! How about a new pair of fitness shoes or a step counter? How about a date night with your spouse? Or that new outfit you've been eyeing up? A massage... a manicure... a new hairdo... a day at the spa with a girlfriend... there are any number of ways to reward yourself - and you're WORTH it!

Additional Resources

If you'd like some additional guidance, whether in setting your goals or with following through, I have a FREE worksheet that you may find very helpful! Send an e-mail to walkstrongcalgary@gmail.com and I will send you the PDF. Walk STRONG out there!