Why We’re Failing at Our Health Goals and How to Do Better

We have reached the start of February. The first month of 2023 is done.

How are you?

Have you set health goals this year?

Do you find it hard to catch up with your goals, that maybe, you end up dismissing them altogether?

No worries! it happens to the best of us. Let’s discover how to set our health and fitness goals right and how we could best possibly honour our commitments.

?? Let’s see the trends:

A research was done to analyse New Year’s resolution statistics available in public domain as of late 2022. Here are the key findings from the research:

·????38.5% of US adults set New Year’s resolutions?every year.

·????48% want to exercise more, making it the most popular New Year’s resolution. The top 3 are all health-related

·????23% quit in the first week

·????36% only make it past the first month

·????9% successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions.

?? The main reason why people fail is the timing of New Year’s resolutions.?While people want to achieve change, they have yet to be ready to commit fully.

?? Successful individuals reported more stimulus control and willpower.?Social support and interpersonal strategies became important after the first six months of pursuing the goal.

?? Successful individuals are likely to experience 14 slip-ups during a 2-year interval, indicating that resilience or the ability to bounce back from setbacks is essential for goal success.

?? We can be better.

We owe it to ourselves to improve these statistics, let’s grow the 9% of people who are achieving the goals that they set out to do and committed to themselves.

?? If you are in the early struggle of keeping up with your goals, hang in there. Recalibrate if you need to, just don’t throw in the towel.

?? If you are that one who just gave up early on and threw your health goals away, know that you can start again.

?? If you are the one who is doing well, nicely done! Keep on going.

And yes, social support and interpersonal strategies are crucial too. Setting goals and achieving them are essential for progress. And progress moves lives forward. So together, let’s go for it!

?? 4 Steps to Set Your Health Goals Right, and How to Honour Them:

(adapted from Jay Shetty’s 4-Tier Framework to Goal Setting)

??? Focus on the Growth

Have a thoughtful pause and ask:

What do you need to grow to get to your goal?

What growth do you need to focus on?

What is the growth behind the goal????????????????????????????????????????????????????

There are times when people are so focused on the goal that they miss out and pay less attention to the growth needed to be able to reach the goal.

When you want to be healthier,

Grow your appetite for healthier food.

Grow your discipline and self-control

Grow your faith and trust.

?

As I renewed my journey to become healthier, I remembered that I had to go back to having a growth mindset! I remember that thoughts become things!

So I considered these:

?? Growth in my personal awareness of strengths and weaknesses

?Build on my strengths and delegate my weaknesses.

?? Growth in my acceptance of my current reality!

My lifestyle has become unhealthy. I was still in a ‘mental quarantine’. I finally faced the fact that I took in too much weight, and lacked exercise, and my appetite is too loose.

I needed to grow out of my helplessness, and rather take full accountability and do something about my situation.

?? Growth in my commitment to do better.

I grew in my desire to be healthier and be a better human being.

I grew in my learning on how to build good habits, and on how to break bad habits.

I had to remember that Inner growth sustains outer growth! And what an empowering thought that I can start within. I need to grow and mature as a person, and my living and doing follows.

Again, in your journey of reaching your goals, remember to focus on the growth behind the goal.

?? Find your Opportunities

Remember WHY we fail:

We say YES to things that are NOT in priority.

We say NO to things that ARE in priority.

Find each opportunity to make it right.

Set the criteria beforehand, make earlier decisions, so that when opportunities came, its easier to take a decision and act towards healthier choices.

My goal is to exercise every morning. Once quick thing I adjusted is to wear workout clothes at night. So that its easier to transition to do morning exercises. No shower and getting to work yet, until I say yes to at least 15 mins or more of either walking, yoga, or simple stretching and sunlight.

My goal is to lessen my sugar intake. So I’ve decided no to sugary drinks like soda, and said yes to sticking with water, fresh herbal tea, and black coffee only.

My goal is to eat healthier, so I say no to fast-food, and say yes to freshly prepared food.

?

Energy wise, I say YES to nourishing people and conversations, and no to negative talk and people who are energy drainers.

I say YES to learning opportunities (podcasts, books, videos, seminars, etc.) and say NO to idleness and non-value adding activities.

My non-negotiable every Sunday: it’s God’s day and I go to Church and serve others in some way.

When you are clear with your goals and priorities, you will find your right opportunities.

?

?? Form an Action Plan

Imagine a ladder and the only step is the one at the top. You will be only looking at the goal and dream of reaching it. What is needed is to have clear steps towards your goals, If you want to reach 10, be clear on your 1, 2, 3,4, 5, until you reach 10.

Ask yourself:

What will you do?

When will you do it?

How will you do it?

Who am I going to do it with?

Why am I doing it?

?

Remember that vision without action is a delusion!

Your health goals become more achievable when you are clear with the steps to take.

In my case, I needed to identify clear steps towards my health goal:

WHAT: Sleep better, for 7-8 hours a day everyday.

WHEN: Every 9-10pm

HOW: Be on the bed, no gadgets, no social media, no streaming of movies

WHO: With my wife and kids

WHY: Health benefits of good sleep. I get to have more focus and concentration. Well balanced moods. Less food cravings. More energy and attention. And less risk for chronic illnesses. Deeper why is to be a healthier husband for my wife, and a healthy father for my kids. To be able to enjoy a long life with them.

?

?? Launch. Learn. Love.

?? Launch towards your goals and do something about them!

Execute your plans, and don’t get stuck on planning and analyzing. Move and act. Action precedes clarity. If it’s not perfect, that’s okay. Progress no matter slow and small is better than perfection. Adjust your health goals along the way.

?

For me this year, my goal is that holistic care becomes more widespread. I want to influence more people who are in their health journey. So, I write down my thoughts more now and share away, maybe it might help someone.

?

?? Learn something and be open to new things.

Try different approaches if it doesn’t work the first time. Learn from your mistakes. Reflections from experiences are the best teachers. Learn from someone else’s health and fitness journey. And bring the lessons to your own journey.

?

I’m learning now to be more open to a bigger worldview, that in the world of many cultures, we have different approaches to health and well-being.

?

?? Love somebody.

Highly consider yourself too as the person you need to love more. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Harness this power to propel you to achieve your health goals. Love others. Add value to people. Be kind. ?I’ve long found so much value in this: When you help others, you help yourself too. ?

?

Maybe you feel bad that you may have given up on your health goals too early or easily, or maybe you don’t trust yourself anymore since you have quit on your health goals many times.

?

Remember this: You can begin again! That’s the beauty of a brand-new day. You don’t need to wait for another year. You have another day, another week, another month, another moment to get back your health and life! You can set your goals again and get better in honoring them!

?

One last thing to consider when you want to achieve your health goals:

Instead of asking yourself “What are my goals?”

Ask, “Who am I becoming?”

?

You have a daily choice to become the best person that you can be.

You can reach your health and fitness goals if you do these things:

?? Focus on the Growth

?? Find your Opportunities

?? Form an Action Plan

?? Launch. Learn. Love.

?

Take care of yourself, let’s take care of each other!

?

Dr Didoy Lubaton

Medical Director of Nordic Medical Clinic of OSM Maritime Group.

Main resources:

1.??????**On Purpose Podcast by Jay Shetty https://jayshetty.me/podcast/the-4-tier-framework-to-effective-goal-setting-and-why-youve-failed-in-the-past/

2.??????*https://insideoutmastery.com/new-years-resolution-statistics