Making Lifelong Changes For A Healthier You

As we enter the new year, people take more stock of where they are and what they’d like to do in the near future and evaluate their health than at any other time of the year. 

In fact, the new year has more people making plans and goals to improve their lives than at any other time. 

And that includes parents of teenagers and young people. 

Looking around the family and seeing where everyone is at with their goals and health can be challenging for overworked, overstressed parents. 

Since a new year is a time of reflection and renewal for many people, taking time to evaluate values and priorities helps create a plan that you can follow through. 

Perhaps you have a goal to travel more. If that’s your goal, ask what you can do to prevent poor health and prepare for travel.  

Most people tend to fall short of their plans after the new year because they need to be more lofty, ambitious, or vague. 

Instead, take some time to evaluate your goals and priorities and use that information to make specific, actionable steps to help you achieve your goals and stay on track even when there’s less motivation. 

Start by Making a List of Your Values

Once you take a moment to reflect on what matters most to you, prioritize your goals based on your core values and ensure that you align with your core beliefs.

When making a list of your values, start by thinking about what is most important to you in life. 

Consider family, health, career, relationships, spirituality, and personal growth. Once you have a list of your values, take some time to reflect on each one and how it relates to what you want for your life.

Analyze Your Actions

Once you have identified your core values, it’s crucial to analyze how you live them out in your daily life. 

Are you living by your values? Are there things you can do to change for the better? 

Take some time to reflect on how you are living out your values.

Are there areas where you could be doing better? For example, if you know you should eat better but aren’t, consider making minor changes to your diet and how you eat. 

For your family, if you have concerns about underage drinking issues, perhaps some of those behaviors are being modeled at home, and you’re unaware of how your drinking is normalizing drinking too much in your teenager’s mind. 

As you take a moment to analyze whether your life is aligned with your core values, you need to consider what changes you can make to ensure that your actions match your beliefs. 

Make Healthy Choices

One of the most significant changes you can make is to focus on your health. Saying you want to make changes in your life should focus on areas you have the most control over, such as making healthier choices. 

To make healthier choices, you can choose to do things such as;

• Sleep more
• Eat healthier
• Get regular exercise
• Avoid stress
• Spend time on daily self-care

Again, take a moment to evaluate where you’re at in your life and how your lifestyle aligns with your goals. 

Ask yourself, are you setting a good example for those around you?

Your actions go a long way toward the expectations and behaviors of those you live with, especially your kids. So you must focus on making changes in your life that will  benefit your health and set an example for others. 

Stick to What Matters Most

Once you identify the values that matter most to you, make a list of the activities you want to accomplish and want to stick with you.

To make these goals sticky, ask yourself, how can I practice these values daily? 

Make sure that the decisions you make throughout the year align with your values and are something that you can stay disciplined with until you can develop these behaviors into habits.

When you decide to make some changes in your life, either at the start of a new year or just in general, take some time to evaluate your life values, what you want to accomplish, and whether those align with your core values. 

Making life changes can be challenging, and there will be times that you slip up, but don’t beat yourself up for not being perfect. Instead, focus on what matters, make small incremental changes, and set the example you want for yourself and also for your family.