30th January – Goals

Set yourself goals to aim for.  This is useful because it gives the mind something to focus on, and something to aim for.  If you have a clear plan, you are more likely to achieve your aims.  The ‘smart’ acronym is often used for goal setting, and this stands for picking goals that are:

• Specific
• Realistic
• Acheiveable
• Measureable
• Time-limited

We can have big long-term goals, for example “I’m going to lose [x]amount of weight” or “I’m going to run 5k” (or 10k, or 10miles or a marathon, whatever is right for you) and these bigger goals are great, and can be really helpful with motivating you to keep going in the medium or long term.  However, all of these need breaking down into smaller day-to-day action plans, so having little daily goals in your action plan is just as important as the bigger overall aims.  

Firstly, Be specific, for example:  Rather than: “I’m going to try to live more healthily”, Try: “Today I am going to plan my snacks and go for a ten-minute walk at lunchtime”.  By being specific, it automatically makes these little goals measurable – you can have a tick list somewhere and see that you have achieved your healthy goals for the day.

Write down your daily goals – when you can see that you are achieving them, this positive progress will help motivate you to continue.

When making changes, I think that for daily goals the most important aspects of goal setting are that they are realistic and achievable.  For example, I really love the idea of being able to get some midday sunshine and get outside in nature with a walk in the park at the same time. For quite some time previously, I had a plan to do a 15 minute walk at lunchtime every day.  But, for me, it just is never happened because life in our GP practice is so busy, and what actually happens is that I am lucky to get 5minutes to grab a coffee, let alone be able to leave the building. But I liked this idea of a lunchtime oasis of peace and quiet. So, I went through a cycle of thinking each week, “Right, I’m going to really try to walk in my lunch break every day this week”, and then something would come up so that I wouldn’t manage it on Monday, and something else would happen the next day, and by Wednesday I’d given up and written the week off feeling like I’ve failed again, and overall there is no lunchtime movement done at all.

Instead, I’ve changed my goal – instead of 15min walk, I aim for 2min yoga-type stretching in my room after morning clinic.  This I can do, and on a good day it might extend to 5 or ten minutes.  By making my goal realistic, even though it is less than I would ideally like, I do manage to do a little bit everyday, which is definitely better than the none I was managing before.  Plus I feel better that I am achieving something and taking care of myself.

What I would like to suggest to you is; think about which healthy habits you can make a regular part of your life, and set yourself daily action plan of goals to fit in those daily healthy habits which will serve you best.