New Year, New You!

Let’s talk about new year’s resolutions. Some people love the idea, while others think it is a set up for failure. No matter your stance on the issue, effective goal setting is important whether you do it in the beginning of the year or not. Goal setting can be broken down into short term goals and long-term goals. Long term goals usually take a while to achieve, while short term goals may be more readily attainable. For example, losing 20lbs may be a longer-term goal, while losing 2lbs may be a short-term goal. A strategy that can really lead to success is picking a long-term goal and then working backwards to create your short-term goals. Perhaps you would like to lose 20lbs by the end of June. How many pounds would you need to lose a month to reach that goal. Well, if it’s January, then you have approximately 6 months to meet that goal, meaning that you would have to lose between 3 and 4 pounds a month. If you break that down even further, that will mean you would have to lose 1 pound per week to meet that goal. From there you can plan accordingly. What would you have to do to lose 1lb per week? Perhaps you would have to create a short-term goal related to exercise. Would you like to make a goal to take a walk every day? Or perhaps you prefer to manage your diet better. It can be easier to create a plan, when the large goal is broken down into smaller parts. So, whatever your goal, whether a new year’s resolution or not, be sure to implement both short- and long-term goals to ensure success.