Having realistic goals is as much a key to success as the commitment to achieving them.
This was recently made clear in an article from the Associated Press about the national health goals in the U.S. established by leading federal health officials every ten years.
As the new decade rolls around, we look back and find that the goals set in 2000 were largely unmet. We are more obese, have higher blood pressure and more tooth decay in children. Not only did we fail to meet the goals, we moved in the wrong direction.
There is always a balance between realism and “stretching”, but clearly something was wrong in the planning and implementation of these national goals. Setting appropriate targets that push us yet don’t discourage is an iterative process. Set a target, work towards it, assess results, review targets, do it again.
I’m suggesting that the ten year period is too long and these goals should probably be assessed every 2 or 3 years with adjustments made to the rolling ten year plan.
The same concept applies to individuals. If the goal is to lose weight over a period of time, call it 12 months, the program can be established on January 1st but will likely fail if it isn’t reviewed and evaluated on a monthly basis, or something in that range.
PsychDIETry believes that feedback, monitoring and revising the goals and the implementation program on a regular/repeating basis is central to achieving results.
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