Be Smart About Your Goals

Did you make New Year’s resolutions? Many people do! One of the most common resolutions people make year after year is for better health. Better health is a great goal and if it is one of the resolutions you set for yourself, we want to encourage you.

Especially if you have found yourself sticking with your better health goal! Chances are, you are not alone. Study after study reveals that approximately 80% of all people abandon their resolutions by Valentine’s Day.

Don’t give up! Instead, be SMART about obtaining your goals.

• SPECIFIC – We all want better health, the key here is to get very specific about the things you are going to do to achieve your goal.
  Instead of saying you want to have a healthier diet, commit to drinking 8 ounces of water a day or eliminating sugar from your diet.
  Instead of saying you want to be proactive about your health, make an appointment with your Chiropractor and talk about your health goals, then work together to create a plan to achieve them.
• MEASURABLE – Putting a process in place that allows you to measure your progress is an important part of achieving any goal. People succeed because they plan. If you keep doing the work, you will see results.
  Create a system to track your water intake, a chart that you check of the # of glasses, or maybe buy a water bottle that contains your daily ounce goal and sip all day long.
  Pull out your calendar and schedule your appointments in advance. It is also a great idea to schedule any time for any homework assignments you are given. If you have to cancel, don’t simply delete or erase them, make some indication that the appointment was canceled so you can hold yourself accountable.
• ACHIEVABLE – Lulls & setbacks are a part of life, set goals that are achievable so that inevitable setbacks don’t derail your process.
  Many people who don’t drink the right amount of water on a given day abandon the goal, say they can’t do it, and stop altogether. This is A HUGE MISTAKE!! If you have a setback, that doesn’t mean you have failed. Each day is a NEW DAY so refocus and start again!
  If you miss an appointment or two, don’t give up, call and make another appointment! If you don’t do your homework, don’t skip your appointment, come in, let us know you didn’t do your stretching, and then refocus tomorrow!
• REALISTIC – You are not going to be healthy overnight. Remember it takes approximately two months to create a healthy habit.
  Don’t think that if you drink plenty of water and skip the sugar for a week that all your health problems will be resolved. Stick with it and you will begin to feel better.
  If you choose regular chiropractic care to help you be proactive about your health, it helps to keep in mind that it takes time for the body to heal itself. The cumulative damage that has occurred over your lifespan will not be corrected after a few visits.
• TIMELY – It may be a good idea to attach time to your goals and allow them to build on one another. This is another guideline to help you measure your goals.
  If you have been pretty consistent about drinking water daily and two months pass so that drinking water becomes more of a habit, it may be a good time to add a new diet-related goal into the mix. Maybe you eliminate all soda or sweet tea all together or maybe you start to take a look at your food portions.
  One of the things we talk about with our patients is a recommended treatment plan which includes our expectations in terms of appointment times and continuation of care. Once your chiropractic care becomes more of a chiropractic lifestyle, it may be time to incorporate an exercise plan.

We also like to share this with everyone who is feeling hopeless at the start of a health journey: All of the cells in your body will have replaced themselves over a 7-year time frame (with the exception of the nervous system), so as you continue to make positive health choices, you are continually choosing to build yourselves towards greater states of health!

So no matter your goal…don’t give up. Make some SMART choices and then keep going!