How to Encourage Your Health and Wellness Goals

By Alexis Mills

Whether you started the year with new health and wellness goals or have been working toward goals for awhile now, there are different things you can do to give yourself a better chance of achieving them.

Make Small Changes to Work Toward Your Goals

Breaking down big goals into shorter term, smaller goals will help give you the ability to reach your big goal. The point is to set yourself up for success, and to take a systematic approach (small goals) to achieve your desired goal (the big one). By giving yourself some victories along the way (small goals), you'll continue to be motivated and you won't drop out because you're not seeing success. You will feel a sense of accomplishment, and who wouldn't want that as they try to improve their lives? Let's say your goal is to lose 25 pounds this year. Rather than start out trying to lose 25 pounds, instead make a goal to lose 1 pound every two week, or about 2 pounds per month. To reach that goal, you'll set the goal of going to the gym four times per week (small goal), and maybe reducing your soda consumption in half (small goal). 

Read Motivating Quotes and Books 

By feeding your brain with positivity, you will bring your mindset perspective to help you stick with your health and wellness goals. Here are a few of my favorites.

• "Remember, the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Be patient. Be humble. Keep moving forward and know that all this hard work you're putting in day in and day out will produce the results you've been looking for. Your time is coming. Do not give up," said unknown.
• "I don't believe in age. I believe in energy. Don't let age dictate what you can and cannot do," said Tao Porchon-Lynch.
• "Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel," said Kevin Trudeau.
• "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty," said Maya Angelou.

Find a Friend to Keep You Accountable 

It's great to find someone to enjoy your misery with you. If you find someone who is also trying to incorporate a healthier lifestyle, recruit them to be your accountability partner. You'll have someone to talk to, and someone who you'll commit to not letting down. You can share your struggles and tips with each other and be each other's support system through it.

Keep a Journal

Writing down what you have accomplished, noting how you feel, and what you have done, will give you a way to track your steps toward your health goals. You can write it down in a spreadsheet, or some bullet points in a journal -- whatever works best for you. Personally, I incorporate it with my daily planner and note what workout or exercise I did that day; it not only helps me track it, but it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Seminole, Fla.