
Having excellent health is a matter of choice. Barring unforeseen circumstances or medical issues, we all want to stay in control of your health. Often we become too busy focusing on our career, finances, and family that our own personal health may get placed on the backburner. We may not be able to carve out sufficient time to think about our health goals and establish a sustained plan on how to achieve our goals.
Book an appointment with Dr. Payal Bhandari, M.D. to formulate attainable health goals.
Many of us wish to have the following health goals throughout our lives:
It takes work each and every day to actually achieve our health goals. Our first priority in setting our goals is being honest with yourself as to where we are at the moment, where we want to be, and what we need to do to reach our goals. Since it is sometimes difficult to phrase our health goals, use the SMART guide below to help you through the process.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Specific: Don’t be too vague when setting goals. Define what the goal is, how to accomplish the goal, and why is the goal important. For instance, if you want to run a race, your goal needs to specify the distance you want to run, why you want to run this race, how you are going to train for this race, and where time is carved out in your life to plan for the racing training along with other aspect of self-care (i.e, good nutrition & hydration, sufficient rest) each day to adequately achieve your goal.
Measurable: It is important to keep track of your progress. Our memory is selective, and we may forget factors like skipping our daily run earlier in the week or having tons of ice cream the night before. Track specific measures in a journal so that you can monitor how you are doing and be more accountable of your actions.
Attainable: Your goal needs to be achievable within your current ability. For example, your length and bone structure dictate your ideal weight. A short and a tall person will have different weight goals, or if you are 60 years of age, you can’t expect to live another 60 years.
Realistic: Your goals need to be realistic. If you set the bar too high, it will only discourage you if you do not progress at a certain rate. Don’t expect to train for a marathon within a few weeks. Or if you’re in a high-stress job, you can’t expect to be stress-free next week. Slowly work up to your goal.
Time-bound: Set a target date for when you want to reach your goal and break it down further into smaller chunks. For instance, if your goal is to lose a certain amount of weight within six months, work out your target weight for each week as well.
Making changes in your life is not always easy. Here are some tips to make the journey a bit smoother:
You will gain more success in achieving your goal if you work with a coach or mentor. Book an appointment with Dr. Payal Bhandari today for guidance in achieving your health goals.