New Year, New You!

*The only limitations in life are the ones you set for yourself*

It’s a new year, and that means the opportunity for a new you! One of the most common excuses I hear people say for not setting a meaningful resolution is that they’ll just break it. Now, this is a very understandable concern because chances are you will indeed fail and not keep your new resolution! However, just because you don’t keep your new goal doesn’t mean you’re not making progress and becoming a better person! Skeptical? Hear me out, and follow these simple steps:

1. Make A Meaningful Resolution- Setting a goal that is unrealistic and unattainable will get you nowhere. In fact, it’ll probably make you feel worse about yourself. With that being said, how do you know if your resolution is a good one or not? Set a SMART goal! SMART is an acronym that stands for:
   S-Specific
   M-Measurable
   A-Achievable
   R-Realistic
   T-Timely
   If your goal meets the above criteria, then chances are you’ve created a meaningful goal. However, if your goal is to get the body of your dreams chances are you’re not going to fulfill your resolution. Don’t fret, if you’ve made a bad goal like the one above, it’s easy to transform it into a SMART goal and it’s never too late to do so. Instead of setting the generic, ineffective goal of getting into shape, let’s look at the smart way to do so! If we say our goal is to get healthier and we’re going to do it by exercising 5x a week for at least 30 minutes per session, we’ve now created a SMART goal. We can go through our checklist to make sure. Is this goal specific? Yes, we are going to exercise 5x a week for at least 30 minutes. Is it Measurable? Of course! It’s easy to measure if we exercised or not for at least 30 minutes! What about Achievable? Exercising 5x a week is no small task, but you can do it! Realistic? You bet, it’s only for 30 minutes 5/7 days out of the week. Timely? Our period for completing this goal is for the entire year. That’s a long a time and is daunting to almost everyone, so it’s better if we analyze our progress month to month. Can I exercise 30 minutes per day, 5x a week for this month? Absolutely.
2. Learn Why You Fail! – Afraid of failing? Don’t worry about it. Seriously, don’t. The reality is everyone fails at some point in their life. Failure is a harsh reality of life. However, failing at something gives you one of the greatest learning opportunities. For example, if you aren’t achieving your goal of exercising for 30 minutes 5x a week, find out why. Whatever the reason, learn what you can do to resolve it. If you’re spending all of your free time watching TV instead of exercising, look at ways to combine the two. Maybe go to a gym and run a treadmill with a TV, or go to a cardio cinema. Learn why you are failing and find a way to fix it!

Let me know what SMART goals you have set for the New Year! Share your progress you make as you fulfill your goals. If you do fail, learn why and find a way to resolve it! Here’s the best year and you yet!

Author: Dylan B Nelson

After being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, Avascular Necrosis, Enteropathic Arthritis, and an Atrial Septal Defect, Dylan like so many other people with chronic conditions struggled to manage his health. Being frustrated with the current solutions, Dylan helped create mediswarm.com, a social health network where it's easy to meet other people with the same conditions. Users can ask questions and get real answers, see top solutions for their conditions, and get support from a community of people just like them. Dylan's ultimate goal for MEDI+SWARM is that it can become a resource for individuals who have chronic health conditions to get the help they need and to help improve their overall health outcomes. View all posts by Dylan B Nelson