When working towards a new wellness goal or trying out a new health-trend, it can be tempting to jump in head first and commit yourself to lofty goals in order to see change as quickly as possible. However, it’s important to remember to set realistic, attainable, and yes even flexible goals.
Realistic goals
Particularly with lifestyle changes, such as new exercise routines or dietary changes, it’s important to set smaller goals in addition to your ultimate end goal. Remember that your goals should be unique to you, and avoid the temptation to compare your progress to others.
When setting realistic smaller goals, think about a few criteria:
What is attainable now, and what is somewhat challenging? You’ll want your beginning steps to build up confidence that your new habits should stick, so they should be something you can accomplish without being identical to your current habits. For example if you’re switching to a Vegan diets, maybe there is one product you can swap out for the first month to ease yourself into it while still gaining a win.
How will I progress from my first steps? Leave yourself room to grow, and make a plan to do so. Work through the natural progression of your goals so that you can have an expected timeline. For exercise related goals, this might look like increasing the reps you do each set more and more each week.
Flexible Goals
One of the biggest obstacles to goal achievement is all or nothing thinking. You trip up and have a “cheat meal” in the middle of the week, so you write off the whole week as a cheat week. Or, you haven’t worked out all week but it’s already Wednesday so you put it off until Monday morning (when you may or may not actually do it.) Sound familiar?
Instead, try to remember that progress isn’t linear. There will be unplanned shifts to your new habits, and it’s healthier and more effective in the long term to accept these changes and keep pursuing your smaller goals. Doing a little of something is always better than doing nothing at all when it comes to bettering yourself.
Remember that your goals can change as life’s realities come into play. Things happen, people miss workouts or have poor mental health weeks, or need to deal with family emergencies. When these things come up, having flexible goals allows you to shift priorities while still remaining focused on what you want to achieve. It’s all about adapting instead of abandoning your goals entirely.
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