pH Balance your Body: Articles & Blog Posts on Acid Alkaline Diet & Vibrant Health

QUESTION? GIVE US A CALL!1(888)744-8589

Free Domestic Standard Shipping on all orders above $100 USD

Your Shopping Bag Shopping Cart 0 items

New to pHion Balance? Create Account |

pH Balance Home

Discover pH Balance

pH Balance Blog

Setting Goals for a Healthy Life

pHion Balance | 0 Comment

It would seem that feeling better would be the ultimate goal in health, but it requires a more specific image, with a perspective of purpose and value. The bottom line is to know your value. Self knowledge is the beginning to any plan for better health, or it simply doesn’t make any sense. Why should one care for his or herself without having a worthwhile reason to attain better health in the first place? Well, personally I am thankful for so many opportunities that I get directly because of my physical condition, my positive outlook on life, and my smile that I share with each person with whom I am in the presence of…But, that’s me! Setting goals in health is a serious undertaking that requires discipline, patience, forgiveness, and endurance just to name a few important principles. Values are subjective, because every single human being views life through his own subjective point of view. Every person’s point of view is unique and therefore every person’s set of values is unique. Our values are our compass in our lives.

There are values that are positive and there are values that are negative. There is friendship as well as hate. There is charity and there is grief. There is happiness and depression. There is family, honor, individuality, work, tolerance, respect, and hundreds of other values. We are made up of our personal values. Our personal values are a combination of values ingrained in us from an early age as well as ones we have adopted ourselves over the years. Society may expect certain things from us, yet we are the ones who choose whether or not we internalize external social values and make them our own.

Each of us has many values. Not all of our values are as important to us at the same time. Write down five to ten of my top values every few months. Sometimes they change, sometimes they stay the same. By listing the values that are most important in your life at any given time, you are choosing to focus on them and work on them. Sometimes we have values that clash, not because they’re opposites of each other, but because we can’t honor both at once. For example, family and work are two of my values, and I find myself working more and having less time for my family. My family wants my attention and pulls at me. I want to feel fulfilled through work and career and that pulls at me.

The more my work value is being fulfilled, the more integrity I have with regard to that value. On the other hand, I am not living my family value with as much integrity as I would like to. When there’s a rift between how you’d like to honor a value, it leads to a loss of integrity. If you have low self-esteem, that means you need to go back to your values and reassess how you can rearrange your life to feel like you are living with integrity based on what matters to you. If you’re like me, you might wonder you can possibly live with integrity based on all your varied values. What helps me is to challenge all-or-nothing thinking. Sometimes it can seem that if you can’t do things right or all the way, it’s a non-accomplishment. Integrity is built from a pattern of small and consistent actions. Little changes can indeed build into big changes. One step at a time, a little bit each time, really does work magic. Self esteem is like a bank account. When you live your values with integrity, you are making deposits into the bank of self esteem. We can be rich or poor. We are the ones who decide how many deposits we make.
Whether the goal is promotion at work, a streamlined work process, a new customer, a published article, an exercise program, better health or weight loss, the goal must be your goal. You are unlikely to achieve your manager’s goal, your spouse’s goal or the goal you think you “ought” to work on this year. Your goals must generate excitement when you ponder their accomplishment. You must believe there is something in it for you to accomplish them. Sometimes, especially at work, if you perceive the end reward is worth the work, you will take on challenges in support of the organization’s goals. These goals might not be as close to your heart as your personal goals, but you work to achieve them for the good of the organization and your success there.

Setting Your Goals

When you set goals for better health, they can help you stay on track. But it's important to set goals that are realistic.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests how to set health targets:

• Talk to your doctor about exercise, and set up time on your calendar to work out

• Establish long-term goals, including incremental increases to your exercise plan

• Make your goals specific and measurable so you can gauge whether or not you're meeting them

• Make your goals attainable and realistic

• Make your goals relevant to living a healthier, longer life

• Set realistic time limits for achieving your goals

• Prepare for trouble. “This is perhaps the most underutilized yet important tactic: You’re going to experience setbacks, like working late or bad weather. Plan for these times, and know exactly how you’ll adjust and what you’ll do, so you can eliminate the opportunity for impulsive decisions”

• Remove personal obstacles. “Identifying your health obstacles is a simple first step. I had one patient who wanted to lose weight, but was self-conscious about women looking at him. So we decided that he would run in the woods where no one could see him, It wasn’t about overcoming his anxiety. We just made it easier for him to exercise.

So, be realistic with your goals and remember, you are writing the goals to work for you, that means design your plan with you in mind to achieve, and to be successful without suffering and punishment. You hold the pen, what you write for yourself should work like you know yourself better that anyone else.

Here's to your wellness,