Tracking Wellness

It’s that time of year when the world falls in love with gym memberships, home exercise equipment, diets, fasting, juicing, and throwing out all the junk food or everything in the closet! With that said, it won’t be long before many wake up late, look at the treadmill, stop on the way to work for a chick’n biscuit, and then drink coffee all day instead of water. So…..what can be done to keep wellness momentums going until new healthy habits are established and old ones have truly died? Many people are doing it by setting achievable SMART goals, using books such as BJ Fogg’s, Tiny Habits, and tracking wellness goals.

Tiny Habits

In Tiny Habits, Fogg discusses the power of taking a broad goal and breaking it down into tiny steps. Then, he shows how to work the tiny goal and accomplish it. He explains how tiny normally leads to bigger and better successes in life. He focuses on what he calls, “recipes for success”. These include 3 line items. First, is the anchor moment, which is the routine that reminds you of the new behavior you are trying to practice. Next is the “Tiny Behavior”, which is the small version of the new habit. Finally, it’s the “Celebration moment”, in which you do something to create positives vibes after completing the action.

Utilizing Smart Goals

SMART goals have been around for a long time. The Acronym stands for setting goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound. It’s a clear path to success, If all these things are true about your goal. Utilizing the M in the acronym is key. Psychologically it has been proven that tracking success brings more of the same . Setting measurable goals is paramount because unmeasured success is short lived!

For example, let’s look at business. In the world of sales, where would salesmen be without a measurable quota to aspire to? And, after tracking their success and meeting their quota, they are rewarded! It’s time for the celebration moment and the feeling of accomplishment. This is what gives you the drive to do it all again.

Wellness Measurement Systems

So what type of tracking measurement system should you put into play for your goals? It could simply be a “to do” list, a handmade chart, or moving a bead from one side to another on a bracelet. Anything tangible that says “I’m finished with that, let’s move on” will work. The joy comes in this action, and the feeling of accomplishment is made manifest. Completeness resonates with the soul.

Another reason for tracking is to find the gaps in our SMART goals. If we can’t finish one day, and we see it repeated for the next few weeks, the tracking tells us that there is something that we need to tweak in the process. We can adjust and try again!

Tracking Wellness for Stress Relief

Tracking wellness is important is because it relieves the stress and anxiety of life’s chaos. When we see our To Do’s on paper and we measure them, stress is relieved and our mind moves into peace mode. Incompletion in any area of life is stressful! Let’s take work again, for instance. It’s mind numbing to constantly meet about projects that never get off the ground, and then hav to rehash them again the next quarter. So it’s not only a good way to accomplish your goals, but it is positive stress relief for your day to experience and track small accomplishments. We need little successes to strengthen us for big hills, coming our way!

Support for Tracking Wellness Goals

In my practice, we utilize Tiny Habits and SMART Goals. I encourage daily tracking. Right now, we are offering a free support group called Healthy Happens Here. Join today and receive a FREE Wellness Tracking form and a FREE SMART Goal Steps form! To get your freebies, sign up for the group here. Next, download your forms. The meetings are not required, but they are very beneficial. Along with the forms, members other things such as: a free class, videos, nutrition tips, recipes, and 15% off of all paid wellness classes. As always, if you have any questions, you can contact me.

Proverbs 16:2 Commit to the Lord whatever you do and you will succeed

With great tracking tools, books like Tiny Habits, and SMART goals, your momentum can stay high and you will continue the path toward establishing deeply engrained habits to create a healthier you in 2023. Seize the day. You are an amazing creation. God loves you and you will succeed!!! Proverbs 16:2 – ….Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and you will succeed.