Small Goals Can Lead to Big Changes

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Many of us make resolutions for the new year and are frustrated if we don’t meet them. These feelings of failure can cause stress and stop us from trying again. This year try micro-goals: small actions that you can accomplish that take you toward a larger goal.

For example, instead of trying to set a goal to exercise an hour a day every day in 2022, consider starting with a smaller and time-bound step, like: for the next month I’m going to take a short walk at lunchtime five out of seven days. Once you accomplish a micro-goal you move on to the next one.

This approach allows you to take small steps that can lead to big changes in all areas of your life. You can find articles, skill-building activities and other tools on goal-setting on meQuilibrium, our digital mental well-being program that helps you build the resilience you need to meet life’s challenges. meQuilibrium is available at no extra charge to fully insured Florida Blue and Florida Blue Medicare members*. Once you’ve created your member account on floridablue.com, make sure to read 10 Resolutions for a Happier You on your meQuilibrium app.

The following article from New Directions Behavioral Health offers some ideas and helpful tips for changing habits.

Change Your Approach to New Year’s Resolutions

If you’re like most everyone else, making New Year’s resolutions is a ritual that lets you start fresh. No matter your past bad habits – whether overeating, under-exercising, smoking, gossiping or being late for work – January 1 is your chance to change.

Change for good?

But as you probably already know, most resolutions are discarded by late-January or early-February.

Thinking about making these changes gets people fired up and motivated, but it just doesn’t last. Without motivation to carry you all the way, most plans to change just fizzle out.

Change your approach to change!

The most frequent advice about making a New Year’s resolution is to set a goal. The theory goes like this: if you set a goal and write it down, you have a better chance for success.

This is only partly true. Establishing a goal takes some thoughtfulness and practice. By changing your goal setting behavior, you may increase your chance for success.

Why do goals fail?

Goals fail for a variety of reasons. First, people fail to achieve goals when they set their sights on a goal that just isn’t realistic. It could be a goal that can’t be met in the time allotted.

Second, people often fail to achieve large goals – goals that will take a long time or involve many different tactics. While it’s true that people need to have the end in mind, they can get overwhelmed by the enormity of their own plan.

Improve your chances of success.

Can you visualize the big picture and where you plan to be when you’ve arrived at your goal? Great! Now, make today’s goal an action rather than an end result.

Take small steps.

Small action steps work by highlighting what you can do today. Small steps lead to small successes. Small successes turn into accomplishments.

For example, rather than say, “I’m going to work out 30 minutes every day,” you set a goal to find one thing to do every day to make yourself more active. Today, climb a flight of stairs. Tomorrow, take a 20-minute walk at lunch. The day after, park your car as far away from work as possible and walk.

If you make your goal “I’m going to look for ways to be more active every day,” you take small steps that, over time, really add up.

By taking small steps and building on them, you increase your chance for success.

Help yourself

For other types of change, here are some examples of small steps to take on the way to achieving your New Year’s resolution:

• Stop smoking. Call the Quitline in your state for information.

• Be more organized. Spend 10 minutes every day this week organizing one area of your life.
• Get out of debt. Call your Employee Assistance Program or a credit counselor for help in reorganizing and budgeting your finances.
• Stop drinking. Get a professional assessment to understand what it will take.
• Help others. Call your local hospital, zoo, shelter or food pantry to learn about volunteer opportunities. Research shows that the benefits of volunteering include better health!
• Take personal time. Take 10 minutes every day this week to meditate, pray, read or walk.

Once you start taking the first small steps, your own imagination will lead you to the next small step -- and the next. Before you know it, you will have achieved your end result!

Source: This article provided by New Directions Behavioral Health ©2021.

*meQuilibrium is an independent company contracted by Florida Blue to provide health and wellness services and resources to members. This benefit is available to Florida Blue members age 18 and older. Eligibility is limited to members with an individual or family plan, an individual or family ACA plan and members with coverage from their fully insured group employer health plan.