Now that you know what NOT to do for New Year’s resolutions, let’s talk about how to do it right! In order for your resolutions to be effective, they need to be specific and realistic. Always run them by a friend, since they can tell you if your goal is realistic or you or not.
Short term goals are ones that you would achieve in a week or a month. Long term goals are ones that take 4 months or longer to achieve. Long term goals require several short term goals along the way. Most New Year’s resolutions are long term goals. They are often not achieved because appropriate short term goals weren’t set along the way. Most of the time I recommend short-term goals to start with.
Let’s get started!
Hopefully you’ve picked one or two areas to work on. Remember, 3 at the most! One of mine, as you already know if you read my Christmas post, is to volunteer at the local homeless shelter. I want it to be specific (measurable) and realistic (achievable). So my resolution will be:
- I will volunteer at a rescue shelter 12 times this coming year.
I picked 12 times because it averages to be 1x/month which is realistic for me. It’s also measurable; I will be able to tell if I met my goal or not.
To keep track of my progress, I will make a note on my calendar each time I volunteer. In order to achieve this goal, I should identify what steps I need to take. By writing down the steps in achieving the goal it helps me to see what small things I need to do to move towards reaching the goal.
- Contact local shelters and find out what types of opportunities they need help with and what days/times are most needed.
- Decide which shelter to volunteer for.
- Find a friend to go with me.
If your long term goal is to increase intake of fruits and vegetables, you would need to set several short term goals to meet that. Here are some things that might help:
- Make a list of fruit/vegetables snacks that I like and put it on the fridge as a reminder.
- Sign up for healthy recipes to be sent to my email.
- Try a new way to prepare a fruit or vegetable once a week.
- Sign up for a healthy cooking class.
- Shop for fresh fruits and vegetables twice a week.
- Keep fresh fruit out in a bowl on the counter or kitchen table.
- Keep track of fruit and vegetable intake on the nutrition tracker.
Here are some other specific and achievable healthy eating/ wellness resolutions:
- I will do 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week.
- I will eat fruits and/or vegetables 5 times/day.
- I will eat at least 24 cups of fruits + vegetables each week.
- I will Drink 8 cups of water daily.
- I will not drink more than 36 oz. of soda per week.
- I will try cooking a new healthy recipe once a week.
In the next post I will talk about tracking progress and rewarding yourself. For now, start resolving! Feel free to share your resolution by posting in the comments. I’ll be happy to give you feedback.
Happy 2008!!
– Julie
