Healthy Approach to New Year’s Resolutions

It’s that time of year where many of us are looking ahead to the New Year and making resolutions, while plenty of others are renouncing them altogether.

If you’re someone who finds it refreshing and productive to set goals for more positive habits, then why not take these steps for a healthy approach to New Year’s resolutions in 2016?

Tips for Healthy and Happy Goal-Setting

Whether you’re looking to improve your putting game, manage your stress, eat healthier, or cross train more, there are some ways to maximize your results, and minimize stressing over it.

• Be Specific – A clear goal that you can visualize is much easier to attain than a nebulous one. For example: “I want to concentrate less on work and more on family.” vs. “I want to spend a week vacationing in Florida with my family this summer.”
• Don’t Eat the Whole Elephant – Perhaps both diet and lifestyle could use a little help; resist the urge to change everything at once. Starting small feels good, and provides the needed momentum to keep hacking away at your ultimate goal.
• Maintain a Constant Speed – That is, once you begin seeing results of your efforts – just stick with it! For example, don’t double your run time just because your current time feels good. There’s no reason to make things so difficult that you risk giving up altogether or backtracking. Instead, you can add in a reward (related to your resolution) to keep things interesting.
• Surround Yourself with Support – While the changes you make will be hardest for you, they can be difficult for friends and family too. Surround yourself with people who support, encourage, and inspire you to make positive choices. Consider joining a recipe sharing club, running group, or soccer league, for example.
• You Deserve It – And you are worth it. When other things threaten to get in the way of your goals, remind yourself why you set them in the first place, and especially of the rewards you will reap from your accomplishments. If it helps, make a list of positive effects of achieving your goal and tape them to your mirror.
• Forgive Yourself – If you happen to fall of track, don’t beat yourself up about it; instead, appreciate that awareness, and thank yourself for your desire to improve. Then, get back on the horse.

In conjunction with your already healthy habits, we hope these steps can help lead you into a fantastic 2016!