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The New Year can feel synonymous with "New Beginnings" and "Fresh Starts." It’s a natural time to reflect on the challenges and successes of the past year and look forward with excitement at what might lie ahead. It feels like a good time to make changes for a healthier lifestyle – and it certainly is – but many bite off more than they can chew and breaking a New Year’s Resolution can send them back to square one before too long.

If you’re making changes and setting goals, here’s your friendly reminder to make them S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

Specific – Make sure your goal is clear. Avoid usings words like “more” or “better”

Measurable – How will you know when you’ve achieved this goal?

Action Based – Set goals based on actions instead of outcomes. For example, setting a goal to exercise 4 times this week for 30 minutes is a much better goal than setting a goal to lose X pounds this week.

Realistic – Choose a goal that will challenge you but not feel impossible. “Success begets success” and the more small goals you achiever, the more progress you’ll make in the long run.

Time Frame – Set a specific window to reach this goal like a week or a month. Avoid “forever” as a time frame.

Here’s some examples:

1. I will try two new recipes this week.
2. I will walk 15 minutes a day for 4 days this week.
3. I will replace white rice with brown rice once this week.
4. I will eat a piece of fruit with lunch 5 times this week.

Being SMART about your goals can help you have a healthy 2024 and more.