Making Change Stick: Realistic = Sustainable
The new year is officially underway, and I don’t know about you, but for me, there is nothing like being wrapped in the cocoon of winter to make a person contemplate the change spring can bring.
I think most people I know have gotten the idea out of their head that somehow, magically, on January 1 they would be able to make resolutions which would carry them through the next 12 months.
After all, is New Year’s Day really any different from June 1, or Nov. 1, or April 23?
Not really. It’s just another day in a year full of days where we have to make choices that affect our health and well-being.
So, if making resolutions on Jan. 1 has never worked for you, should we give up on resolutions all together? No, I don’t think so. How then do you make positive, sustainable change in your life?
There have been a few posts recently here on AWN about goal setting and SMART goals.
Creating SMART goals is a fantastic way to reach your objectives, and certainly the new year is a great time to reassess our priorities to improve our health. However, I am going to focus on what I think is the most important part of this acronym if you want to achieve long-term success.
Be realistic.
Working through my clinical hours towards my nurse practitioner degree (as well as the many hours I spent before grad school working as a registered nurse) taught me a few things about people. When it comes to physical health, I have learned one very important fact…
Realistic = Sustainable
When I would talk to people who needed to make a change in their lives, time and again I found that they knew the “right” answer. They know why they need to quit smoking, they know why they should lose weight, they know why exercise is important, they know why they should eat more vegetables and drink less soda. If you only ask the questions looking for the “right” answer, people will give it to you.
Then they will walk out, and nothing will change, because it isn’t a lack of knowledge stopping them from making a change.
It is the lack of a realistic goal.
“You need to quit smoking” becomes I will quit smoking.
“You need to exercise more” becomes I will exercise more.
“You need to lose weight” becomes I will work on losing weight.
It’s not realistic when the goal is so general, so huge, so overwhelming that not starting at all often seems like the best option, but what if instead we ask ourselves, “Realistically, what can I do right now?”
What are you willing to actually do today to improve your health?
Plenty of people are not willing to quit smoking—they aren’t ready. They know they should, and if I remind them, they will nod their heads and smile, then go light a cigarette in the car on the way home.
So, rephrase the question: What can you do today? Are you willing to smoke one less cigarette a day and slowly continue to decrease the amount you smoke over the next six months?
If you’ve never been to the gym, saying you will go five days a week is not realistic. It sets you up to fail, and after a week or two when you start to slip up, it will be too easy to go back to the old way instead of feeling disappointed in yourself, but what about a more realistic goal of one day a week, or even two?
I’ve been trying to convince my best friend to do a Whole30 with me. She keeps saying no. Not because it isn’t a good idea—it’s a great idea and she knows I had great success with it—but she knows how much she loves to drink Coke. She, realistically, is not ready to give that up. She knows she would not succeed at a major diet change like the Whole30 right now. Perhaps a more realistic goal would be to start decreasing the numbers of sodas she drinks per day by just one?
Are major overhauls and big changes a lot more exciting? Yes!
Is the new year a time we all like to bite off a bit more than we can chew? You bet.
Is a person more likely to succeed with a sustainable change if they take slow, steady, realistic steps towards achieving their long term goals? Absolutely.
So, Happy New Year! Here’s to another day and another opportunity to change and grow! Remember, it is never to early to start taking small steps towards making those changes you want to see in yourself come spring.
What small, realistic change are you willing to make today? Share with us!
