10 Steps to a Healthier, Happier You

You have decided you want to make a change in your life for your health, financial, personal or fitness and you are wondering:

Where do I start? How long will it take me? What is the right program for me? How often should I workout? How many calories should I be consuming each day?

If you are asking yourself these questions and are looking for a little guidance on how and where to start, please keep reading, grab a pen and paper and get ready to answer some questions. Let's get you on your way to a healthier/happier you.

I will be using losing weight as an example of a goal.

10 Steps to a Healthier, Happier You

Making the decision to change. Congratulations on taking this first step. This step can sometimes be the hardest, and I truly appreciate you for taking this step. For me, when I came to the conclusion that a change needed to be made, I felt I wasn't as happy or confident as I used to be. Your reasons may be different for wanting a change, the key is you realize it and you focus in on your reason for wanting to make a change. Doing this will help you with the next step. Write down the reasons you want to change.

Your WHY. So we just focused in on making a decision to change and by focusing in on the reason, helps us find our WHY. Why do we want to lose weight? Why do we want to get fit? Why do we want to be healthy? For me I wanted to increase my self esteem and be happy again. I wanted to be able to run around the yard and play with my five children. I wanted my husband to think I was sexy again. Having five children really took a toll on my body, especially in my tummy region. My husband knew I was self conscious about this and always was supportive, but I wanted to look better for him. Write down your why(s).

Write out your Goals. Now that you know you want to make a change and why, write down your goals and a time frame you want to achieve them in. So take ten minutes right now and write down 10 things that would be so awesome for you to achieve in the next year. These could be financial goals, health goals, relationship goals, bucket list goals, etc... Write them down. Also, when writing your goals, write them in future tense, like you have already achieved them. Example: I have lost 25 pounds, I am a Diamond Coach, I got promoted at work, etc.. By visualizing your goals, it helps to make them more of a reality.mind map for setting personal life goals

Make a Plan. How are you going to achieve your Goals? If it is to get fit or lose weight, maybe your plan would be to exercise 3-5 times a week. Another option would be cutting out on the sweets or cutting out extra calories. Maybe you want to tone up so you want to add in weight training 3-4 days a week. Find something that works for you. If you are going to be starting a workout program, find something you will really enjoy doing. Do your research to find something you will really love and want to stick with. Maybe you will find you like to run, or you get a gym membership and take advantage of the classes they offer, or maybe you will find it worth your time and money to invest in an at home program. For myself, the at home programs and jogging was the best option for me. Having five children, it was the most convenient thing for me to do. Do your research and write out your plan.

Break Down Your Goals. Look at your list of your 10 goals and look for the one that really stands out at you. Let's make this one your "Top" goal. This is the one that if you accomplish this goal, all the others will become easily possible or achievable. Now take the rest of your nine remaining goals and write them under your Top goal. It is not that these other nine are less important, actually these other nine are probably goals that may help you achieve your "top" goal. After you get those goals rewritten, look at your "top" goal again and brainstorm ideas and other "mini" goals that will help you achieve your top goal. Break your goal apart into a little to-do list for the next seven days. Let's say your goal is to lose 25 pounds. Your list might look like this:

Rid the house of your temptations

Organize the fridge/pantry to make the healthy foods more accessible

Workout 3-5 times a week

Track your calories/keep a food diary

Research different workouts/exercises to find the right one for me

Schedule my workouts

Revisit my "why" daily maybe with a picture on the fridge or a little reminder in my phone.

Get a workout buddy/Join a challenge group

Whatever your goal just keep on brainstorming to-do's to keep you moving towards your goal. It may not come to you right away. A little research may be necessary to figure out how to reach your goal. Research people who have done what you want to do and find out how they did it. And to help keep you on track I suggest finding a good "to-do list" app to keep focused. Again do your research and find the one that works best for you. You always have your phone with you so it is a great place to keep your to-do list to keep you in check. If you do not have a smart phone, a note pad and pencil/pen work just as well. If you use a mini notebook, it is easier to keep with you at all times so you can revisit your goals daily. Write out your weekly to-do list.

6. Revisit your Goals. It is important to revisit your goals daily to be sure you are staying on track to reach your "Top" goal. If you don't check in on your goals you may lose focus and achieving your goal will become less likely. Stay focused and check in on your goals daily.

7. Re-Write your Goals every week. Each week you will want to look at your list of your ten goals. You may notice as things change in your life your goals will change with you. It also may be you have achieved some of the goals in your list you will need to check them off and add others to replace them. What ever the reason, stay in the habit of re-writing your goals each week. Re-write your ten goals every week.

8. Check Off your To-Do List Daily. By keeping a to-do list daily will help you stay focused on your top goal. The things that should be on this list are things that you can do in the day that will help you get closer to your "Top" goal. If your goal were to lose weight, this may be what your list will look like:

Keep a food diary

Get my cardio/weight training workout

Drink 8-10 glasses of water

Write down three to-do's every day for each day.

9. Keep on Going. Keep repeating steps 1-8. If you don't stick with it, do not expect a change. I never said this was going to be easy. I designed this plan for you. Now is the time for you to put forth some effort, the rest is up to you. When you feel like you have failed, brush your self off and try again. Nobody has reached their dream by giving up after reaching a "bump" in the road. That would make for a really long road trip, especially if you had kids along. Persistence is key! Stick with it!

10. Success! Get ready to check off your goals no matter how big or small. By following these steps you can and will reach your goals. I have confidence in you and know you can do it if you stay persistent and by following these steps. Just keep your self moving in the right direction and you will be checking off your goals in no time. Start Checking off your Goals.

Thank you for taking the time to check out what has worked for me. I have great confidence that it will work for you too. But you can not just put in the time, you need to put in the effort as well. I know you can do it, you need to believe you can do it too. So are your dreams too big for you?

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