Dream Big, Set Goals & Take Action -Creating an Active Lifestyle You Enjoy
Goal setting is a powerful tool for behaviour change. It is most effective and is most likely to lead to positive changes in exercise behaviour if you monitoring your progress and alter goals when necessary.
The SMARTS principle can help to set a goal effectively:
- Specific: Goals should be precise.
- Measurable: Goals should be quantifiable.
- Action-oriented: Goals should indicate what needs to be done.
- Realistic: Goals should be achievable.
- Timely: Goals should have a specific and realistic time frame.
- Self-determined: Goals should be developed primarily by the individual.
For example: I want to get active and will do that by walking 3 times a week, for 20 minutes before work, for the next six weeks.
We help you to plan your week, set your goal and revisit it when needed. shows that setting weekly goals helps to increase self-efficacy, which we explore in this . This is the secret ingredient to getting active.
Start with something that seems almost too easy to do. First, you build the habit. Later, you can increase your workout frequency, intensity or length.
Set yourself up for success; getting active takes time. Achieving your weekly goals will make you feel amazing and get you motivated to keep going.
Accepting that it will take time will also help you to see this as a long-term change. When you miss a week, it doesn’t affect your overall plan. Most people give up and do not return to their exercise plan at that point; you can just accept it as part of the journey.
Learning something new has its ups and downs (and the occasional failure). Enjoy the process and keep going!
Here’s the summary of how you will succeed:
- Set an achievable weekly goal
- Slow and steady improvements beat quick wins
- Results take a bit of time
- Be kind to yourself along the way
- Adjust your goals as you monitor your progress.
Originally published at https://www.myhealthscript.com on July 10, 2023.
