Health and fitness fads can be hard to avoid as we head into the new year. But what about long-term health and lifestyle changes? Positive New Year’s resolutions are always worth making, but at your own pace and on your own terms.
Setting short-term achievable goals is one simple way to feel fulfilled. Goals provide focus and direction and can help you feel in control – they also provide benchmarks for success. Knowing how to set goals is essential and requires careful consideration. You need to know what you want to achieve, and the hard work needed to make them happen.
Here are three tips to help you set your goals for the year ahead:
Specific (well-defined and clear), Measurable (include timings, dates, etc.), Attainable (they must be possible to achieve), Relevant (they must align with what you want to achieve) and Time-Bound (they must have a deadline).
Get them out of your head and onto a piece of paper. Writing down your goals makes them real, and tangible. You’re going to be more likely to accomplish your goals if you have them recorded.
No matter how hard it may seem to reach certain goals, stick to your plan. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that it may take some time. The more goals that you tick off your plan, the better you will feel.
We go into further detail about goal setting for your mental health in our article ‘Goal Setting and Mental Health.’
Your physical health is important, and in January, people usually set resolutions focused on improving their overall health and fitness. But it’s important to consider what works for you. Your health and fitness goals should be unique and centred around what you want to improve.
Starting with simple, easy-to-achieve goals such as adding more fruit, vegetables, protein, and fibre to your diet or even just taking a walk every day can be a good place to begin.
Once you have solid foundations in place, you can look to make bigger changes, but starting small is always the best way to create healthy and sustainable habits.
Read more about the role of nutrition in relation to mental health in our article ‘Food for Thought.’
Kindness is thought to make the world go round. But how important is it with regards to your personal wellbeing?
Research from found that “63% of UK adults agree that when other people are kind it has a positive impact on their mental health, and the same proportion agree that being kind to others has a positive impact on their mental health.”
Usually defined as having the desire to make a positive difference to yourself or others, kindness is of the utmost importance when considering your wellbeing. Mental health and kindness are connected, and research has shown that it can even create a sense of belonging.
As well as this, it has been shown to reduce stress, increase self-esteem and optimism, strengthen friendships, and help garner a positive perspective on life.
When looking to make New Year’s resolutions, or improve your life, this year, kindness should be considered as a key factor. Be kind to yourself, and others, always.
Perhaps the most important factor of all – looking after your mental health. When considering your New Year’s resolutions, your mental health should always be a priority.
There are several ways that you can take baby steps to improve your mental health.
You can start by implementing the above changes to your physical health, which in turn, could have a positive impact on your mental health.
You could also consider cutting back your alcohol intake. It’s widely known that alcohol is a depressant, so cutting back could be an easy win for better overall wellbeing. A great deal of us rely on alcohol to feel relaxed, confident, and less stressed but cutting back on it could see you feeling less anxious and low.
Social media is thought to have a negative effect on one’s mental health and with that in mind, it may be worth considering a social media detox. Log out and take the time to think about the impact that it may have on your stress and anxiety levels and spend some time with loved ones. You could also use the time to take up a new hobby such as baking, journaling or even painting. You can read more about the effect of social media on a person’s mental health here.
Finally, it may be time to start practicing better self-care. A good self-care routine and better lifestyle may help manage the symptoms of mental health issues and it may also prevent them from getting worse. In this article, we look at ‘Five Self-Care Tips for Mental Health and Wellbeing.’
Thank you for reading this article, we hope our tips help you enter the New Year feeling a little more prepared.
At Northern Healthcare, we provide care to our residents, with support from Mental Health Support Workers and Registered Mental Health Nurses.
Our residents work closely with our team to set achievable goals to work towards in a safe and supportive environment. These can include relearning an old skill, trying out a new hobby, or looking for volunteering or paid work opportunities.
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