Healthy Habit Goals for 2024

With the holidays around the corner and 2024 quickly approaching, you may be thinking of New Year’s resolutions. As one year concludes, it is a great time to consider what behaviors you want to leave behind in 2023 and what new behaviors you want to embrace in 2024. Whether you want to eat more fruits, take more outdoor walks, or spend more time with your friends, there are some behavior change tools that you can use to increase your chances of success (and health, too)!

Self-compassion: 

Be gentle with yourself. Being very rigid with your expectations will decrease your chances of success. Plus, it can take some of the joy out of living a healthy life. If you don’t meet your goals, remember that you are human and that health is a journey, not a destination. Speak to yourself as you would speak to your best friend. Our self-talk is powerful. For more information about the power of self-compassion, explore the work of self-compassion expert Dr. Kristin Neff. 

Remember your why: 

Remember why you want to make these changes. For example, if you are trying to eat healthier, it’s probably not because you want to carry more vegetables home in your shopping bags. Instead, you are probably trying to eat healthier so that you can live a longer, healthier life where you have an abundance of energy to spend living joyfully with your family. Keeping this in mind will hopefully inspire you to continue your healthy habits. 

Micro steps: 

Although it can be tempting to go from being very sedentary to preparing for a marathon the next week, you are more likely to continue a healthy behavior change long-term if you take micro steps toward your goal. Many people make the mistake of diving head-first into an intense exercise program, which may lead to injuries, severe soreness, and an unpleasant experience that deters them from continuing it long-term. Instead, take small steps toward your end goal. For example, if your goal is to start doing some resistance training, your first step is to get some resistance bands that you could use at home with online videos. From there, you can visit a local gym, meet with a personal trainer or physical therapist, and get instructions on using their weight equipment. You’ll get to where you want to go, one step at a time. 

First things first: 

With the start of a new year, it’s easy to get excited and make many different changes at the same time. This may work for some people, but making multiple changes simultaneously can become overwhelming, limiting your chances of success. It is better to focus on one area of change and then continue to layer on new, healthy behaviors. Slow and steady wins the race! What is it that you want to prioritize now? What is speaking to your heart, to try?

Small Actions are Powerful: 

Everyone has a day when they just don’t feel like doing what they planned on doing. If that’s you, think of how you could just do something healthy on that day. For example, maybe you don’t have time to make a home-cooked meal; however, you could choose to snack on an apple rather than on candy after lunch. Or maybe you had planned to have a gathering with several of your friends from your hometown but you’ve been too busy. However, you could reach out and text someone who you haven’t connected with in a while. This would only take a few minutes and would help you move in the direction of your original intention. 

Pair healthy behaviors: 

James Clear gives us the tool of habit stacking, as a way to increase our chances of making healthy behavior changes that will last a lifetime. Habit stacking involves pairing a behavior that you want to start incorporating into your routine (such as journaling before bedtime to decrease stress) with something that you currently do (such as brushing your teeth every night). As you establish this new behavior of journaling as a routine, make it a habit to pair it with brushing your teeth so that you get used to brushing your teeth and then immediately journaling, pairing these two healthy behaviors together. 

Make your goals specific: 

Rather than telling yourself, “I want to get healthier,” try to make your goal more specific. For example, I will try to eat at least one whole grain daily for the next week, which is a specific goal. When we create specific goals rather than vague goals, we increase our chances of success. There is an entire framework called “SMART Goal Setting” that you can use as you set new goals for 2024. If you have a goal in mind, why not give yourself the best chance of succeeding by ensuring that it’s a SMART goal?

Enlist a partner:

To increase your chances of success, find an accountability buddy. Did you know that telling someone about your goal makes you more likely to follow through with the behavior change and be successful? Find a friend, a relative, or someone who you know who either wants to come along with you on the health journey or they are someone who can just encourage you as you get healthier. Plus, spending time in meaningful connection with another person has an independent, positive impact on health, too! If you don’t feel like you have an accountability buddy, easily accessible, you can book a visit with one of Diana Health’s Health & Wellness Coaches or Registered Dieticians. They are here for you to put together a plan to reach your goals and hold your hand along the journey

Remember, health is a journey. It’s not about a diet or a short-term exercise plan but living a healthy lifestyle both now, and for decades. This is not a race – it is your path to walk at your own pace. Somedays you may feel like sprinting; some days a slow walk; and others, you may even wander off the trail. That is okay. You are making progress, one healthy behavior at a time, to live your best life.