Bringing Mindfulness and Intention into Your Goals

Creating goals is something many of us do on a daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly basis, especially as a way of organizing and prioritizing during stressful times. Now, more than ever, during this pandemic, when our lives are up in the air, we don’t know which way to turn or what steps to take next and are just “surviving”, it is a good time to take a step back and evaluate where we are and where we want to be. What path are we currently on and where will it end up leading us? Is this a path I want to travel?

These questions can be used in all aspects of our lives, from daily tasks to where we want to see ourselves in 5 years. These questions are also important to ask ourselves regarding our health and well-being as well.

• How are you currently feeling?

• Are you happy/satisfied with where you are at?

• If you continue with your current habits, where will they lead you down the road?

• Are these current habits something you want to maintain?

• Are there areas that you want to improve upon?

• What is something small that you can do today to help you travel on your preferred path?

With health goals, we tend to look at the big picture, and while there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it is crucial that we look at the small, day-to-day habits and bring mindfulness and awareness to them. It is the smallest steps and tweaks to our current habits that will help lead us to the bigger picture/goal over time. Our health and well-being is not a race or a destination, but rather a journey – and it is each step during our path that creates the movement forward.

Many times, people create either too broad of health goals or too strict of health goals, especially when it comes to nutrition. I see this a lot during the beginning of the New Year – those New Year’s resolutions – and unfortunately, many people lose the momentum within the first several weeks to the first few months. Goals are either too strict, such as “I’m cutting out all sugar” or too broad, for example “I’m going to eat healthy” or “I want to lose 20 pounds”. Bringing mindfulness and intention into goal setting is crucial in helping us reach our goals as healthy habits are more likely to stick and become routine, and eventually become a part of our lifestyle.

One way of bringing intention and mindfulness into goal setting is through creating SMART goals. SMART goals are:

• Specific: what is the action you will take to meet your goal?

• Measurable: how will you measure the goal?

• Achievable: is this goal doable?

• Relevant: why are you pursuing the goal to begin with?

• Time-bound: what is the time frame for achieving your goal? Is this doable as well?

To add to this, we must also think about the potential barriers (which falls in line with achievable). Once we can name specific potential barriers, we can then create a plan to overcome the barriers or set up a mantra or plan to allow us grace if a barrier becomes too much. Being too strict and hard on ourselves can backfire and lead us down a rabbit hole of guilt and shame, or it may lead us to avoid making goals in general because “we never seem to achieve them anyways”. I have this tendency myself – I am a perfectionist and if I do not meet my goal in the time frame that I want, I start to get down on myself. I have been practicing grace with myself. Being mindful about where I am during the moment helps me relax, bring awareness to my thoughts and emotions, and then I can take the next steps. Using SMART goals and being mindful about potential barriers is what has truly helped me on my journey.

You may be wondering, where do I even start? To help get your thoughts swirling, start by taking a few deep breaths to calm the mind. Then, start by making a list of some of the bigger picture goals that you want to achieve (think months, maybe even years down the line). Then ask yourself the questions previously mentioned in the second paragraph. What goal is a top priority for you right now? Once you can narrow it down, then use the SMART goal outline.

Here is a personal example of a SMART goal: “I want to lower my stress level and start my day off positively through meditating for 5 minutes followed by writing 5 things I am grateful for in a journal. I will do this for a month and re-evaluate.”

• Specific: Yes – I will meditate and write in my grateful journal.

• Measurable: Yes – I can set a 5-minute timer for the meditation and then number in my journal 1-5 to meet the number of things I am grateful for.

• Achievable: Yes – I will do this before the kids wake up or right after they leave for daycare. I can also set my alarm 10 minutes earlier to make sure I get this in.

• Relevant: Yes – I want to lower my stress level and be more positive. All of this is extremely beneficial for my health and immune system, and it sets me up to make good choices throughout the day.

• Time-bound: Yes – I will do this for a month. I want this to become a daily routine for me!

Breaking down our goals into small, doable steps is key for success! Understanding our intentions, barriers and what motivates us is what is going to drive us forward to reaching our goals. All of this together encompasses mindfulness!

Have you been setting goals using mindfulness and intention? If not, now is a great time to start!  

If you are wanting to improve your health and well-being and struggling with where to start or even what goals you want to incorporate, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with me (Meghan Rittmaster)! Just click the button below. I am here to help you take the next steps in your journey to better health and well-being!