You may want to lose weight. Exercise more. Feel better. Eat healthier. Laugh more. Stress less. These are all great goals. Great, but vague. Be more specific. Why not make several mini-resolutions that fall under a general theme. This way, your goals are all clearly defined, interrelated, and easier to keep track of.
Here are some questions to get you started.
- How much weight do you plan to lose? How many hours a week do you want to engage in moderate-to-intense exercise? How much weight do you want to lift during strength training?
- How do you plan to stress less? (I.e. Walk several minutes each day.)
- What activities do you need to reduce time from to have more time available for exercise? (Hint hint: Less facebook, perhaps).
- Are there specific symptoms or health problems you want to focus on this year? (Keep blood sugar more stable throughout the day by eating breakfast in the morning or eating every 4 hours).
- How do you plan to change your diet? (Buy more organic and cut out high fructose corn syrup or other additives). Are there specific foods or ingredients you want to include more in your meals or cooking? (I.e. Use more garlic in cooking or have a cup of green tea daily.) How many times a week will you try to cook meals at home? Do you want to change your portion sizes?
- Have you considered making it a goal to simply track your progress? Keeping track of how much you exercise, weight changes, your diet, etc is a goal in itself.
The great thing about the goals you select as answers to these questions are what you want. Achieving a goal someone else tells you to achieve is difficult. It all starts with your desire to achieve them.
What you do with your resolutions?
Write them down. Writing down your goals is like setting a moving target in place so that you can reach it easier. Put them in a place you can easily spot them daily. In fact, why not make your goals public (perhaps a social networking site).
Make (at least 12 goals). Focus on 1-2 goals a month instead of overwhelming yourself will all of them at once. If you run out of goals toward the end of the year, pull out one of the first ones and see how you're following through with it.
