According to Statistic Brain 45% of you made New Year’s
Resolutions and by the end of January 71% of you have already forgotten about
them. Those of you who did make
resolutions 85% of the resolutions included a resolution to improve health. In fact the top 10 resolutions included
losing weight, stay fit and healthy and quit smoking. I am sure you have already noticed it’s easy
to get derailed from your healthy life goals. So what derailed you?
Getting derailed from your goals generally happens with the
occurrence of any big life change. The
more challenging the event the more thrown off track you become. Perhaps a wedding or divorce has derailed your
healthy eating plan. Maybe the birth of a child or a death in the family has
thrown you off course. A major move to a new house or city may have derailed your
from your fitness schedule. The truth is that nearly everyone occasionally gets derailed.
The first step is to notice you have become
derailed. Until you notice what’s
happening you will continue to move further and further away from your goals. Once you notice you are derailed you must get
back on track as soon as possible. Being thrown off track for even a week or a
month is certainly easier to recover from than unhealthy habits that go on for
years. The second step is to forgive yourself.
Life happens! It’s never too late
to refocus and start fresh.
Whatever the reason you became derailed, take the steps to
get going in the right direction again. Remember you are your business. You
don’t want your health to become your Number 1 priority because when it does,
your business takes the back seat. Just like you plan for success in your business you need to
plan for success in your health and wellness.
Take a few minutes to answer
these critical questions to help get back on track:
- What is the problem? How did I get derailed from my healthy lifestyle habits?
- Moving forward what is the most important course of action to take?
- Taking small steps towards my personal health goals what is a reasonable timeline?
- Who do I know who can help me develop strategies to stick to my plan?
As with all journeys this is about choices - you can CHOOSE
to eat healthy and be fit which is best for you, or you can choose unhealthy behaviors
that cause you to continue feel stressed, tired and eventually too sick to
work.
To tackle the challenges consider the following:
- Anticipate challenges and plan for them.
- Make a routine and follow it. Routines become habits. The healthier your habits become the closer you will come to vitality.
- Schedule success. Mark your calendar the days you will be meal planning and your fitness routine.
- Be mindful. Keep your healthy life goals right in front of you. Post on your refrigerator the new ChooseMyPlate.gov eating guidelines, refer back to it when choosing foods to eat.
- Let yourself off the hook. Forgive yourself and move forward.
- Most importantly stay the course. Developing healthy habits is a process not a onetime event. You are in it for the long haul. Just think, if you could make just one healthy life change and do it every day that will equal 365 healthy habits over 1 year.
Seeking help from a health and wellness expert will take the guesswork out of healthy life
planning. Most importantly hiring a health coach will help with accountability and
strategizing for success.
It's important not to get derailed by poor health experienced by you, a family member or an employee. No matter what size your business is, you can't afford it.
Your partner in health,
Certified Health Coach
Wellness Cosultant
This article was first published in Small Biz Forward magazine. To follow click here
