Making Wellness Stick
Posted on: February 11, 2020, by : Tuesday
4 Elements of a Plan that Enable Progress
To embody wellness, you need a realistic approach. But the approach itself is not enough. For wellness to endure you must develop the habits to support your desired outcomes.
Last year, a family medical emergency brought home the importance of wellness to me. We’d always been healthy, active people so this situation was particularly unsettling and enlightening. I knew if we were to emerge from this new reality, our lives had to change in certain ways immediately. Health and wellness became the foundation for every decision I made.
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
Charles Darwin
Progress begins with change.
But it cannot end there. To be impactful and sustainable, wellness plans must be supported by the right habits. You must have the structure in place to ensure you are active, restful, and making the right choices about nutrition and your mental health.
The key is to give yourself enough structure to meet your daily objectives but be flexible enough so you’re not too discouraged when plans change.
Here is the outline of the aspects critical to my progress, I suggest you consider if it could be useful to you too as you pursue your wellness goals.
Understand Your Motivation
To me, understanding my motivation answers the question, “Why I am Committed to Wellness?” The answer gives me the clarity I need to make sound decisions.
“I am committed to wellness to ensure I can live a full life that supports my truths while I care for myself and my loved ones.”
My family and friends understand my motivation, and how our actions contribute to our wellness goals. The statement communicates why wellness is important to me.
Anticipate Challenges
Next, I consider what might potentially prove a challenge as I move forward with my wellness plans. This answers the question, “What could go wrong here?” For example, in your wellness plans you may be overly ambitious in your daily workout goals and realize you’ve accidentally aggravated an old injury.
Here are a couple of other examples:
- You’re discouraged because the healthy recipes you’re trying are too complicated and dinner’s been late most evenings this week.
- You’re unable to sleep during your designated downtime time because you’re thinking about everything else that needs done during the remainder of the day.
Your statement may be longer, but the point remains—you want to identify the aspects that have the potential to alter your plans.
Set Achievable Goals
Third, setting realistic goals provides the direction needed to ensure progress is made in the right direction. You can question your actions periodically to ensure they’re consistently aligned with your goals. It’s easy to get off track, especially when you’re pursuing multiple goals while juggling your normal responsibilities.
Setting challenging but realistic goals has been the mantra commonly embraced throughout the years in management. But your wellness goals may be different given your individual circumstances.
You may want to focus on realistic, and not necessarily challenging goals. Don’t create goals that you cannot achieve because it’s too easy to become discouraged and revert to old habits.
Be Realistic, Not Perfect
Finally, accept that your pursuit of wellness will be different from others. You shouldn’t feel pressured to join the gym, post your steps on social media, or try the latest diet. You should do what’s right for you given your circumstances and resources.
Setting realistic goals positions you for progress. It’s your motivation, habits, and efforts that matter—keep this in mind as you develop your plans to make self-care stick.
