Choosing new wellness goals in 2022
The new year is arriving fast and with that comes new year resolutions. The beginning of the year is a great time to start new habits and continue them into the rest of 2022. 2021 has brought a lot of change, good and bad, and disruptions to our daily routines which can cause our own health and wellness to take a backseat. Here’s how you can get back in the driver’s seat with your wellness next year by setting goals you can keep up with all year long.
Set clear goals
Set up a few big goals you want to achieve in 2022. This can be vague in the beginning like a healthy diet or creating a self care routine. What are your unique wellness goals that will make you feel more like yourself? The goals will be the big headlines that make up your yearly plan.
Set mini goals
Within these larger goals, set up mini, attainable goals that will help you reach your bigger goal. The more you can segment these goals into small reachable ones, the easier it will be to continue on. For example, if I have the large goal to have a healthier diet in 2022, I will make small attainable goals like adding a portion of vegetables to every dinner or giving up meat on Mondays and Wednesdays. These little goals will help me make small changes to my routine without overwhelming myself. Little by little these small goals add up!
Make a plan
Sit down and write out deadlines for small goals you want to accomplish. Set them up for the whole year so you can work towards each deadline for each month. By the end of the year, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come. By January 31st you could choose to have gone 31 days without eating meat. On February 29th, you could have learned 10 new healthy recipes. By March 30th, you could have eaten veggies with each dinner and so on. By the end of the year, you would have a healthier diet accumulated for all the goals you’ve reached in the 12 months.
Set up rewards
Now this is the fun part! Setting goals and creating a wellness plan is great, but staying perfect 24/7 is just not sustainable. Set up days in the month you reward yourself for sticking to your plan. This could be anything you enjoy from a trip somewhere to having your favourite desert and a movie night with your favourite people. Rewarding yourself is showing gratitude to yourself for working on your wellness.
Reflect
With each goal you accomplish, reflect and write down what has worked and what hasn’t/ This will help you notice patterns within yourself. You can find out what really motivates you and what drags you down, what you really enjoy and what you don’t. Learning how to motivate yourself in your own unique way can be the tool that will keep you going when goals are tough to reach. This is also a great time to reflect on gratitude towards yourself for taking steps to become the best version of yourself.
Take what serves you, Leave what doesn’t
Take a look at your goals and what you truly need for yourself. We all have very different wellness needs because we are all beautifully unique. Take the goals that serve you and leave ones that only stress you out. Throughout the year take up stock in what works best for you and what hasn’t worked. Like Marie Condo says if it doesn’t spark joy, say thank you and let it go!
