We often think about resolutions or setting goals for the new year. Many of the New Year resolutions have to do with health, such as exercise, eat better or lose weight. Like you, I make resolutions most years but never get past February. Why is it that we set out with good intentions to make changes but then life gets in our way and we lose our resolution? We often make goals that are too large and requires a total overhaul of our daily life. But that is the problem, when we try to make large changes, we tend to let it go because it is too hard to maintain. When setting health goals, think small changes.
In the past I have tried everything, from making large goals to not making any goals at all. Neither one has worked. Take time to envision where you would like to be in five years from now, in your career, in your personal lives and yes even your health. For our health we want to make one small change at a time that is achievable and easy to make. While we all want to make health a priority, we want to make changes that we can keep, and make part of our daily habits. Once we have successfully set up one small habit, we can set out to make another small change.
Small Changes
Small changes can add up to change your life. Think of small changes as steps, one step will not take you far but when you add up 100’s to 1000’s steps, they can take you far. It can take you to the mall, to work, to the doctor’s appointment, etc. One small step is no big deal but when you add up those small steps it can become life-transforming. Make one change and repeating it over and over again to stick with you. You have habits that have been ingrained in you for years and years, doing the one change once will not make a difference in your daily habit unless you repeat it over and over again.
These small changes have a bigger impact on patients who have chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure. For these patients improving their health is a matter of avoiding getting sicker or even dying.
Making Changes is Hard
HUMANS ARE CREATURES OF HABIT, I’m sure you heard that before. We set out routines that help us get things done throughout our day and making changes takes work and commitment. Like most things that are worthwhile, getting healthier takes time and energy. That is why small changes that don’t require large amounts of energy and time will become the best way to change your habits. We often want to see results almost immediately, we want the reward right away but it took you years to get to where you are, you are not going to get to where you want to be in an instant, it will take time.
Take the First Step- Decide you want to be Healthier
A decision precedes action. Make a decision that you want to work on your health to improve your overall wellbeing by eating better, exercising and losing weight. Is improving your health something you really want to do? Or is it something you think you should do? Sometimes to help us decide is a good idea to make a pro vs. a con list, what are the benefits and what are the challenges or prices you have to pay. I don’t mean just money when I say price. It could be time, it could be the effort, it could be time away from your family. Taking some time now to be healthier could mean more time in the future that you can spend with your family.
Find Your Why
Make sure you are very clear on the why of your goal. Why do you want to make these changes? Is it because people tell you, you will look better if you lose weight? Is it because you are told you have to get your blood sugars or blood pressure under control or is it because you want to be healthy for you and your loved ones? Your goal should be something you really want to change for yourself, your reason should come from you and not someone or something outside you. Your why is the most important part of deciding and setting your goal. Your why will keep you on track and will bring you back when you let it go.
Pick a Small Change
Now that you decided to get healthier and are very clear on your Why, it is time to decide what small change to make. It should be something simple that feels like will move your needle toward getting you healthier. It could be something like: stop drinking soda, whether is diet or not. It could be stop eating sweets, it could be having breakfast every day, keeping track of what you eat daily or even just weighing yourself daily. You get to decide what it is you can put effort into that you will be able to do every day.
Keep a Journal
Write on your journal what your goal is, the reason for the goal and the small change you want to make. Take five minutes every day to write if you were able to keep your small change or you were not able to make your small change and why. Also write how it made you feel, did you feel good when you were able to keep your small change or guilty or bad when you failed to keep the change? There is no such thing as failure when it comes to your goals only opportunities to learn what worked and what didn’t and to brainstorm how to change it so that you can achieve it and make part of your habits.
How long Before Setting Your Next Small Change
It depends, if you have been successful at keeping the change or doing the change for at least a week or more without feeling overwhelmed and are feeling like it is becoming part of your habits, you can set out to make another small change. Habits take months to set but if you feel like you can do the small change without having to put a lot of thought and time into making it happen, set your next small change. Try setting one to two goals per month but definitely would not set more than one goal per week. Again, make sure they are small changes that you can keep.
Remember making changes is hard, any new habits will take time and energy and any changes you make should be small and attainable. Small changes that can start moving the needle toward better health. Making changes is not a sprint, it is a marathon that will yield the best rewards.
