Have you decided that it’s time to make a wellness change but aren’t sure how to get started? Or have you already set more wellness goals for yourself than you care to admit but keep failing to reach them?
No matter how big or small your goal is whether you are trying to run a marathon or lose a few kgs making a change requires planning.
Have you heard of SMART goals? Following these guidelines can set you up for a greater level of success
Specific. Your goal should be clear and easy to understand.
A common goal such as “get healthy,” or "lose weight" are too general. There are so many ways to get healthy. How do you want to do it? Change your diet? Start exercising? Stop smoking? Break it down and it will be easier to manage.
Let’s pick weight loss as it is a common goal and make a SMART goal out of it. Weight loss itself as a goal is not specific enough. So let's change that to 10kgs of weight loss.
Measurable. How will you track your progress and how you will know when you have reached your goal? Is our goal measurable? Yes!
Attainable. Is our goal a challenge but realistic? Yes.
Relevant. Set goals that are important to where you are in your life right now. Don’t set a goal that someone else is pressuring you to attain that isn’t very motivating. Make sure to choose something that IS motivating to you.
Time-bound. Include an end-point. Knowing that you have a deadline motivates you to get started.
Since healthy weight loss is about 0.5kg-1kg per week, set your deadline accordingly. For our example for 10kgs of weight loss we should allow for up to 20 weeks.
Now we have a SMART goal! With a goal like this, it’s a good idea to set a few more action oriented SMART goals so that you have a game plan. Here are a few examples:
I will walk 10,000 steps everyday
I will stick to the plate model to moderate portions
I will cut out takeaways and soft drinks from my nutrition
I will drink 2-3L of water daily
The more we can break down a goal into monthly, weekly, and daily goals/habits the more successful we will be.
If you need help planning out your next wellness goal, please reach out
#itsallaboutbalance
