Being healthy motivates for actions

Being healthy is motivating. When you feel good, you want to do more. When you don't feel good, you don't want to do much, or you burn out easily.

Therefore, if your goal doesn't involve improving your health, I recommend setting a health-improving goal first. When you have been working on that health goal for a couple of weeks, you can start working on other kinds of goals. Your additional energy might be just what you need to meet your other goals.

Examples of physical health goals:

1) Get enough sleep.

2) Eat enough of all the major nutrients almost everyday. (What good is being slim if you feel lousy?)

3) Drink more water, juice, or milk--less caffeine, alcohol, or carbonated drinks (which actually dehydrate you). 

4) Take more 5-minute breaks.

5) Breathe more deeply.

6) Quit smoking.

7) Sit straighter, walk straighter.

8) Adjust your chair, desk, and computer peripherals ergonomically.

9) Brush your teeth more often.

10) See a doctor or dentist more regularly.

11) Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

12) Park cheaper and walk farther to the office.

13) Exercise.

          

          

 Examples of mental, social, and spiritual health goals:

1) Figure out what worries you. Read books on that subject. (They'll give you ideas and options you probably never considered.)

2) Tell someone your secrets and your worries. (Stop keeping it all to yourself.)

3) Accept yourself as a decent human being. You want to change yourself in order to make life more pleasant, not so you can accept yourself. Accept yourself now.

4) Enjoy life today, not after you reach your goals. Enjoy the journey.

5) Read attitude-changing books, such as Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff by Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

6) Spend more time building your close relationships--including your relationship with God, whatever that means to you.

7)  Contribute more to the lives of others. Try to learn more from other people.