Goal setting in menopause to support your health and feel amazing

For some women, menopause can bring tiredness, low energy, weight gain and with it comes low motivation to even begin thinking about understanding how to make changes to feel more energetic and alive. The very first step is seeing your health professional or GP to have an assessment to rule out other health issues related to your symptoms, and if all is okay, you can start to think about what you need to do to feel better. Goal setting in menopause can be the basis to support your health and the foundation to achieving healthy habits that you can implement for the rest of your life and in the process, diminish the symptoms that give you grief.

What is goal setting?

Goal setting allows you to bring in focus and alignment what you want to achieve with your values, and if done well, will keep you on the path to success. Think of it as a compass giving you the direction you need to take each step of the way. The definition of a goal is the aim or objective that you work towards with effort and determination.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success”

~Pablo Picasso~

Setting one big goal that is broken down into smaller achievable goals that are progressive, allows for little wins along the way, keeping the momentum and motivation to keep going.

Why is goal setting important?

Goal setting in menopause is important because it will keep you on track to achieve what you want, even if you are feeling overwhelmed and tired. It will help you break down the big goal into smaller goals to focus on, that feel more achievable and rewarding over time. Goal setting will lead to success, keep you focused, help you measure your progress and keep you motivated to keep going, while increasing your self confidence and self esteem along the way.

The goal setting process

Successful goal setting involves a few key steps. The best approach is to allow some time to reflect and think about the health goals you want to achieve. While doing this it is important to focus on why you want to achieve your goal, or want that change. When you think about this, visualise what it would feel like to achieve that goal. Visualisation will give you the fuel to break the goal down into baby steps or mini goals with motivation and gusto, ready to get started. Positive Psychology includes some key principles in goal setting, some of these include being committed, having clear goals and a challenging goal.

The most proven way to do this is by following the SMART goal setting strategy, by breaking down your big goal into smaller, achievable SMART goals. SMART goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding and Time-based. Below is a further breakdown of the SMART goal setting strategy:

S – Specific – Specific goals address the what, why and how

M – Measurable – Measurable goals are concrete and observable

A – Attainable – Attainable goals means that you will be able to achieve the goal

R – Rewarding – Once you reach your goal, a positive reward to inspire you to go forward

T – Time based – Having an endpoint to when the goal will be achieved gives a clear target

As an example, setting a goal “to get more sleep” is very vague. It needs to be SMART to be clear and focused on what you want to achieve. A SMART goal for wanting more sleep could be: ‘I will get more sleep by turning off my devices at least 1 hour before bed every work night. I will know that I am making progress because I will track my progress by ticking it on my calendar and my energy levels will improve.

Goal setting is the foundation of the work I do with women in menopause. When we work together and I have gathered more information about your circumstances, this allows me to pinpoint the areas that we could work on. It is always your choice what you want to focus on, but the goal setting and habit change work starts from the beginning – a very slow and sustainable approach. If you are feeling confused about what or how to do this, or are wanting a more guidance, connect with me and book a discovery call or an initial appointment.

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