6 mistakes not to make with your health goals in 2021
We are more than halfway through January. Most people are either starting to lose motivation in their new year’s resolution or still procrastinating because it still feels like the holidays and vacations for some of us. Why don’t we start next Monday, am I right?! Except, you said that last Monday and the coming Monday might never happen. We find ourselves never meeting goals and living the best lives we promise ourselves. Well, I want to talk to you and see how I can help motivate you a little bit, but first, let me introduce myself.
I’m Anna, a new mom – I guess you can still say that since my baby is ten months old, hahaha – and a wellness coach. I’m not a personal trainer or a nutritionist, just a regular person just like you who knew my health wasn’t 100% where I needed it. One day, I decided to change my lifestyle, so I found some great tools, a community to keep me accountable on my wellness journey, and I’m now passionate about helping others do the same.
It’s normal to want to reboot your life on January 1st. One of the most common resolutions that make it into everybody’s list after an over-indulgent holiday season is to create healthy habits. But it’s also totally normal to lose that motivation around mid-January. We get over-excited with our resolutions list, but then we don’t follow through. Why is that? We usually make these mistakes when making that list:
“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill”
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Avoids Making These Mistakes
- Mistake 1: YOUR GOAL IS TOO BROAD.
Goals like “I’m going to get fit,” “eating healthy,” and “losing weight” are too vague and ambiguous to be successful. It would be best to define what they are in precise terms. Follow the SMART guideline to ensure your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and with a time limit/schedule.
For example, instead of saying, “I’m going to eat more greens,” say, “I’m going to incorporate one different veggie in at least two meals daily.”
- Mistake 2: YOU DON’T HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
If you don’t hold yourself accountable and there are no repercussions, you’re more than likely to make excuses and fall behind.
If you struggle to stay motivated on your own and need extra encouragement or tough love, ask a friend or family member to regularly check up on you to make sure you’re on track with your goal. It’s okay to asks for help; it helped me the most with my wellness journey when I joined an online wellness group. Being part of a community of like-minded women with similar goals in a judgment-free space where we all encourage each other was motivating and kept me consistent with my goals.
- Mistake 3: YOU MAKE TOO MANY RESOLUTIONS
Setting too many equally ambitious goals at the same time isn’t practical; you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Instead of making a long list of resolutions, which can leave you feeling overwhelmed, focus on one or two big goals that you can divide into mini-goals, and build on. Once you’ve successfully incorporated one of those mini-goals into your life, you can gradually add another related mini-goal every week to ensure you’re progressing and reach the final big goal.
- Mistake 4: YOU DON’T DEVELOP A REALISTIC PLAN
I mentioned this mistake in the previous points. It’s not only about making a resolution list. It’s about making a specific goal with a plan to achieve it. Setting a goal without a plan of action is like constructing a building without a good foundation; it’s unsustainable.
Make a list of things you can do each day to achieve your goal, including weekly and monthly mini-goals. Breaking your goal down into several smaller short-term goals helps you stay focused and feel accomplished, even on tough days.
- Mistake 5: YOUR RESOLUTION FEELS LIKE A CHORE
A good goal should push you outside your comfort zone but still, be approachable and exciting. If your goal is too difficult, daunting, or tedious, tweak it! Be creative and modify the approach; find the fun in it.
And it would help if you also had a deep connection to it, a strong enough reason so when you are having a bad day and want to give up, you can think back on why you are pursuing that goal and get motivated again so you can keep going.
- Mistake 6: YOU DON’T CELEBRATE YOUR PROGRESS
It’s tough to stay disciplined if you have nothing to look forward to.
Instead of waiting to treat yourself or have fun until you hit your big goal, which can seem like a lifetime away, take a moment now to pat yourself on the back, acknowledge your hard work and progress, and celebrate the small victories. It will help you stay motivated and excited for more!
Pro Tips for Healthy Habits Goals: If you incline to celebrate with an edible treat, rethink your strategy. While occasional cheats and treats help keep us sane, they shouldn’t become a celebration default. Instead, treat yourself to new motivational books, performance workout gear, a massage, pedicure, haircut, or spa day. You need to celebrate and reward your discipline, but it doesn’t need to be indulgent food.
I hope this helps you to rethink your resolutions and stay motivated for the remainder of the year. And you know what? I have a proposition for you: let’s not call them resolutions; let’s change it to REALsolutions! Believe it or not, it all starts with a mindset shift, and changing the way we refer to things helps with the way we think about it.
We’ll be hosting a Free Goal and Vision Board Webinar on Monday January 25th, 2021 at 7:00 pm (EST) on Zoom. leave a comment if you want to attend, so we can send you the link. If you are looking for help and need accountability with your wellness goals, please contact me at hello@anna-fernandez.com.
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Anna Mary Fernandez
I’m definitely guilty of mistakes 5 and 6! But this year my plan is to set fewer goals and focus on choosing goals that I really connect with and not trying to achieve things just because I think I “should” but because I truly want to.
Thanks for the reminder about healthy rewards and not always reaching for edible treats. 🙂