Simply Healthy E10 - Resolutions and Goals

Simply Health ME

Why have resolutions?

We all love starting something new and with that we often feel like we need to have a end result to focus on and help us ‘finish what we started’. Many of us feel like we’ve let things slip as we get older. I’m not talking just physically but emotionally, spiritually, intellectually. Having a resolution helps us start reexamining our past and looking to chart a new course in the future. This is a very good thing. Being reflective of our past and making any attempt to change and more forward is a good thing.

What is a resolution? “ I resolve….

A resolution, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary is: a promise that you make to yourself to start doing something good or stop doing something bad on the first day of the year.
Start doing something good can mean a number of different things. Stop doing something bad can also mean a number of different things. The most important part of a resolution is that it is a promise.
This is part of the problem I see with resolutions. If we don’t live up to them it makes us think that we are ‘breaking our promise’ to ourselves and those around us that we’ve let in on what our resolution is. If we reframed the resolution as a promise to the process we might treat ourselves with a little more kindness and resolution to follow through with it. Have to be mentally ready to start. Which is why an arbitrary date like New Year’s Day is a terrible time to start a new program.

Common mistakes in setting a new year’s resolution

There doesn’t seem to be any “Ramping up to speed”. Most people wouldn’t run a marathon if they haven’t trained for it. Why are our resolutions so often tied to doing something all out, or quitting ‘cold turkey’?

With physical resolutions like going to the gym and getting ‘fit’.

Most people start out too hard
Injury Not mentally equipped to deal with the reality of their fitness/health current status. Discouragement with an inability to perform at a level that they remember their bodies being able to do in their youth. If I’m 42yrs old, I may not be able to do the same kind of intensity that my 18yr old self could. Even though in my mind, I should be able to do them... We don’t research and read what it means to commit to this new resolution. We don’t have a foundation or support structure to maintain adherence to this new way of living. Read a magazine and think “That’s the plan I’m going to do”. No research.
All of this leads to what we see happening in the middle of February into late March. BAcksliding into bad habits and giving up on the resolutions. We forget to be kind to ourselves. We go through feelings of failure and disappointment. Getting through the backsliding…
Journaling
This is why journaling is so important. Personally I’m terrible about journaling my process (which is going to be part of my resolution for the new year is to incorporate a daily mindful reflection of my process).
Having a support structure in place for motivation Setting small, achievable goals. Honesty Revising the plan/resolution should be encouraged, why?
No plan is absolute. Our lives as adults have many pressures on them and if we are too rigid we risk not only failure, but decreased interest in trying again to achieve our resolution.
Say it out loud. Make it real.

SMART GOALS (we’ve all sat in meetings being told by our higher-ups that we were embarking on a SMART Goal initiative… ugh.

SMART goals are a mnemonic management buzzwordy thing that began in the early 80s (George Doran, et al 1981) and has gone through several iterations. Most commonly it refers to the following:Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-Bound

The original mnemonic was a little different. It goes like this:

Specific

Measurable

Assignable

Realistic

Time related

Any step towards healthy living is a good thing. We have to remember to be kind to ourselves. Falling off the wagon does not equate to giving up on a resolution. To quote Master Yoda from the most recent Star Wars movie. “Failure, the greatest teacher it is.” It’s true. We get so much information to try again when we fail at something. A former colleague of mine had a poster on her wall that said “Failure is an opportunity to start over with more information.” I cannot agree with this sentiment enough. If we only have control over the moment (Kay Ralston FB post), then how can we possibly make long term goals for an entire year? Are we setting ourselves up for failure? NO. A long term smart goal is made up of at least twelve mini-SMART goals. Each month has a smaller goal that will be the foundation for the next month’s goal. You only set one mini-SMART goal at a time. You shouldn’t set all twelve month goals on day one. Since we only have control over the moment it might be even more important to break things down even further and create weekly smart goals, maybe even daily. Why?
Because we have to be constantly revising and editing our plan based of our reflections from our progress, daily. It brings to mind the importance of mindfulness in this process.