Already struggling with your New Year’s resolution?  Most will abandon their resolutions as early as February.  If you feel like you keep setting goals for yourself and then failing to achieve them, instead of doing the same thing (can you say the definition of insanity?), try something new!

Micro resolutions are small goals that you can achieve in 30 days or less.  The goal of the micro resolution is that each goal snowballs into the next, creating a pattern for success.  If you don’t accomplish your goal, you start with a clean slate the next month.  Here are some tips for successfully setting micro resolutions.

Learn something from the experience.  If you set a goal in February and it turns out to be too much for you to accomplish, consider a revised version of that goal for another month and try again.  There is no failure, only opportunities to learn and understand what you need to successfully make changes in your life.

Try something new.  If you’ve done the same thing over and over and haven’t successfully changed, one reason could be because you keep employing the same strategy.  Not making it to the gym?  Try a daily walk.  Hate the food plan you’re using?  Try one that better matches your food preferences and eating style.

Keep it simple!  ‘Lose 10 pounds’ is not an achievable goal for 30 days, so break that goal down in to a smaller, more realistic plan for the month. For example, eat breakfast daily or eat a salad daily.

Here is a sample calendar of micro resolutions that are SMART – Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. People who set SMART goals achieve them more consistently than those who do not.

January – Try Whole 30

February – Start journaling daily

March – Read four books

April – Eat a salad daily

May – Do yoga three times per week

June – Drink the proper amount of water daily

July – Meditate daily

August – Bring lunch 2 days per week

September – Do something active for at least 30 minutes daily

October – Volunteer

November – Quit soda

December – Only take the stairs at work

Andrea Groth Wellbeing Detective

Andrea wants to live in a world where the neighborhoods are walkable, bike lanes are plentiful, and the food is fresh, delicious and readily available.

A 20-year veteran of the health and wellness industry, she started her career in the fitness industry while earning a master’s degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, and then on to the burgeoning field of worksite wellness. Andrea has competed in collegiate level soccer, worked as a personal trainer, fitness instructor, wellness coach, and master trainer, climbed 14ers, and completed cycling centuries and metric centuries. All of these experiences give her the opportunity to view well-being from many different perspectives.
When she’s not helping others to be their healthiest self, you can find her at a farm to table restaurant, down dogging at the yoga studio, or experiencing the Colorado landscape on a bicycle, snowshoes, cross country skis or on foot.