Every year, almost 50% of people want to try being healthier with their new year’s resolution. This goes to show how important people consider their health to be.
Though, if you were to take such a goal onboard, what should your number one health goal be if you wanted to make the most of the opportunity?
We have brought together some of the best advice when it comes to trying to achieve a healthy lifestyle goal. As you read through, think about what you can apply to your own life. By the time you finish reading, you should be able to start planning for a “new year, new you”, and aim for your 2023 health goals with ease.
Customize Your Goal For You
It would be impossible for this article to tell you of any one thing you could find as a health goal over the year. This is because everyone is very different, and we all have different things we would be able to do.
As such, your goal should be one you can achieve. Consider your circumstances, how much time you can commit to a goal, and your current situation at the start of the year.
You will need to choose from a few different methods to find a goal to match your own needs. This might include analyzing your capabilities, learning what your body is capable of, or making a long-term exercise plan.
Acknowledge What You Can Achieve in One Year
As you begin to set yourself a health goal, think hard about what you could potentially complete in only one year. There is no point in aiming too high, especially if health planning is new to you.
As such, you could do one or more of the following:
Small Habits
It takes around 60-70 times of doing something new to form a lasting habit. Focus on making one small change in your schedule to not over-exert yourself.
There are many options for these habits. It could be any of the following:
- Choosing an earlier bedtime and sticking to it
- Starting a supplement program for better nutrient health
- Meditating every day
- Standing while you work and sitting less
- Including one extra vegetable in each meal
- Planning your meals
- Drinking more water
Many of these could improve either your physical or mental well-being. Over time, as these habits become second nature, you could even try adding more to the list. Each one of these is a single achievable goal.
Remove One Bad Habit
It is not only adding habits that could help you out. You could also aim to remove unhealthy habits for similar wellness benefits. These might even be harder to do because you might start to miss some of these as they create cravings.
Examples of bad habits you could try to stop include:
- Heavy smoking
- Using your smartphone before bed
- Drinking large amounts of alcohol
- Eating fast food regularly
- Drinking sugary drinks
Each one of these could help in a small way with your larger healthy lifestyle.
Take Up One Physical Activity
With only a half-hour of exercise each day, you could help your body get into shape. Anything that gets your blood pumping and takes you out of the house for a short amount of time will breed both good physical and mental health. Turning this into a regular activity is a worthy health goal for many people.
Examples of things you can do include:
- Going for walks
- Yoga
- Joining the gym
- Starting short daily jogs
- Taking up dancing, or dancing around your living room
- Starting a push-up club in your workplace once each day
There are plenty more things you can do, and the above list is non-exhaustive. So, find out what options are in your area.
Create a Health Goal Plan Tailored to Lasting Health
As you choose which goal to set, remember you will need to ensure it is building up your health. Any goals you do set will need to be SMART. This means:
Specific
You need to know exactly what the goal will entail. It should not be “be more active”, for example. You should specify an activity.
Measurable
You must be able to measure the goal. If you do not, you will not know whether you are improving at it or not. You must have the ability to know if you are doing better or worse over time.
Achievable
There is no point in setting a goal of “going to the gym” if there are no gyms in your area. You also want to ensure you can do things within your budget. So, if getting the equipment to do a specific exercise will cost you too much, choose something else.
Realistic
You need to be able to reach this goal at some point during the year. Going from zero to any number is a worthy goal, but try to set up something you can do. It needs to not only match your physical status but also how busy you are during the year, so you can make sure you have time to try.
You want to feel motivated to work towards this goal and make it something useful to your life.
Time-Bound
By having a goal of doing this in 2023, you already have a time-bound goal. Still, you might want to set shorter-term goals to help you move along toward the final milestone. For example, along with your long-term goal, set monthly goals to hit on the way.
You can then celebrate these small wins and enjoy achieving them.
Get Ready to Make 2023 Your Healthiest Year Yet
There is every chance you want to start your year off on the right foot. With that in mind, you should plan to get involved with a health network that can give you the care you need.
We can discuss your options with you to help ensure your health is the priority in your life. We work with doctors who can make good decisions about your healthcare and ensure you receive the best treatment possible. So, call us today and find out what we can do for you to help you achieve your health goals moving forward.