Why discuss preparation in a health blog ? Preparation is an antidote to what ails us.
Preparation is key to overcoming health challenges like obesity, poor nutrition, lack of fitness, chronic disease, and bad habits.
Tax day is April 15th and tax season has prompted my focus on preparation. There is a lot of stress going around associated with tax preparation, and not just because money needs to be paid. There is stress because some people leave their preparations for taxes for the last minute.
The opposite of preparation is procrastination. Check out this older post on procrastination:
Procrastination increases stress, undermines self - confidence, and undermines relationships at home and work.
It decreases performance and effectiveness at completing any goals, including those associated with health.
There is a common misconception that preparation and goal meeting is about will power and discipline. On the contrary, preparation is about the realization that goal meeting is hard. Because goal meeting is hard, we need preparation which is easy. Said better, preparation is what makes it manageable. Preparation, not will power, is the key to success.
Let’s dissect or “ unpack" preparation, so you can see what it really is:
- Having optimism that your goal can be achieved.
- Taking the time to fully define your goal.
- Frankly assessing where you are at the present moment, so that you can see how far you have to go.
- Breaking down your goal down into parts. These subsections of the main goal, and not the whole goal, get divided according to the SMART goal criteria. Each of these subgoals must be:
- specific
- measurable
- attainable
- relevant
- and time bound.
That is what will make them, if not easy, then attainable.
To learn more about SMART goals, read here :
Three Ways to get Ready for the Week
Sometimes preparation itself is daunting. However, when the ask of preparation itself is broken down into segments, it is easier to face. And, crucially, starting with plenty of time ahead will take enable you to spread the segments out so you don’t have to do too much at one time. With preparation the hard becomes easy and the stressful becomes empowering. Try some today !