Setting Wellness Goals for 2022 and Beyond
Making changes to your health and wellness routines can support a healthy lifestyle for the long term. As you think about setting wellness goals for 2022, focus on the specific goals you’d like to achieve and the outcomes you hope to gain. When you use SMART goal setting, your goals will be specific, detailed, and clear. You also reduce or remove any stress or doubt as to how you will achieve your goals.
Whether you’ve been plugging away at your goals for a while or just getting started, it’s important to be clear on your main goal. You may have multiple goals you would like to work on, but ask yourself, “Are all of these goals a priority?” After all, if everything is a priority, you’ll find that making progress is very challenging. So start by identifying what areas you would like to work on and place them in order of priority. Then, focus in on that top area. It could be a general area of wellness or something very specific. Below, I’ve listed six areas of wellness that many people set goals around. Perhaps your goal falls into one of these areas. Once you know the area you’d like to work on, you’ll want to craft your S.M.A.R.T. goal. Here’s how.
Setting wellness goals for 2022 can be as easy as remembering the SMART acronym. SMART goals contain 5 components. They’re:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic (and relevant)
Timely (and or time-limited)
Once you’ve identified your main goal, you will need to break this goal into smaller, step-by-step milestones.
Setting Wellness Goals to Manage Weight
If you have an overall goal to achieve or maintain a healthy weight, you’ll want to create goals around this. Here are some sample goals to help you manage your weight.
Prep healthy lunches for the week every Sunday.
Pack a healthy lunch three days per week.
Include 50% fruits and vegetables with each meal.
Create a meal plan once per week.
Go for a 15-minute brisk walk twice per day, 5 times per week.
Setting Wellness Goals for Physical Activity
Setting goals is a great way to increase your physical activity. Many people are leading a sedentary lifestyle, whether it’s sitting all day at work with little movement or bingeing on your favorite series. Setting wellness goals around becoming more active should be a part of your wellness plan for 2020.
Your goals for physical activity might look something like this:
Go for a 15-minute walk before work 5 days per week.
Have a walking meeting with co-workers rather than sitting in the conference room.
Bring workout equipment to the office to encourage a more active workday.
Aim for 10,000 steps 5 days each week.
Engage in moderate intensity physical activities 5 days per week for 30 minutes.
Take a 5-minute walking break every hour during the workday.
Stand for phone calls. Walk as you talk.
Setting Wellness Goals for Healthy Eating
Setting a wellness goal around eating healthier is a great way to make positive changes to your overall health and well-being. As more people realize the pitfalls of fad diets, there is a movement towards adopting sustainable lifestyle habits (including healthy eating) that they can maintain.
When setting your goals for healthy eating, choose 1 or 2 areas to focus on at a time such as planning healthier meals or boosting your consumption of dark, leafy greens. Here are a few more goals you might consider for healthy eating in 2020:
Add an additional serving of fruit or vegetables four days per week between lunch and dinner.
Start your day with a healthy breakfast 5 days per week.
Add an extra serving of fruits or vegetables every day.
Eat two servings of dark leafy green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, kale, romaine, etc., three days each week.
Avoid added sugars in foods two days each week.
Go vegetarian one day per week.
Pack a healthy lunch for work or school three days each week.
Swap out refined grains for whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice, or millet at one meal per day.
Drink a glass of water before each meal.
Setting Wellness Goals to Manage Stress
Stress is an unavoidable part of daily life. And stress can show up in many forms, such as chronic illness, conflict with family members, pressure at work, and more. Stress can even show up in positive experiences, such as planning a wedding or getting a promotion at work. Regardless of the source, stress can lead to physical and emotional imbalance.
Creating wellnes goals to manage stress can help to mitigate the effects of stress in your daily life. Here are some goals that a stress management plan might include:
Maintain a calendar to help you manage your time.
Create a relaxing bedtime routine.
Write out and prioritize your tasks each week.
Create a daily meditation routine.
Keep a gratitude journal and write about all of the things that you are grateful for every day.
Go electronics-free three evenings per week.
Get adequate sleep. For adults this is 7-9 hours per night.
Start a nighttime journaling routine.
Engage in relaxing hobbies such as gardening, reading, dancing, or other fun activities.
As you work on setting wellness goals, remember to keep your plan SMART and dimple. If you want to achieve sustainable lifestyle changes, set wellness goals that are clear and actionable. Getting clear on your overall goals, breaking goals down into micro-goals, and identifying specific actions to achieve your goals are the key. Good luch with your wellness goals for 2022!
References:
https://www.wholefamilyliving.com/setting-wellness-goals/