HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The first of the year presents the perfect opportunity for many to turn over a new leaf, but before you get ahead of yourself, there are ways to make sure you get the most out of the new year.
Making new and necessary lifestyle changes is always a good idea, but according to Monretta Vega of Huntsville Psychotherapy and Counseling Services, the first of the year is the time where those goals become a priority.
"This time of year is almost like a reset for a lot of people," Vega shares. "It's the beginning of the year, the first month of the year, and a lot of times the first day of the year and so it feels good to start on a first versus starting mid-year or mid-month and so it feels like I have a fresh start."
And the idea of having a fresh start makes this tradition appealing.
"Making a New Year's resolution gives people the opportunity to say this is something that 'I am saying I'm going to do for the remainder of the year'," Vega shares. "And a lot of times we want to improve ourselves and we want to be able to say, these are the improvements that I'm going to work towards, but it would be beneficial for us to have realistic resolutions."
A drawback many face, is not keeping up with the goals they started.
"Well, we know ourselves better than anyone else," Vega shares. "So, it's so important to make sure that you are aware of where you are mentally, emotionally and physically. You want to be kind to yourself to if you are unable to achieve those goals, because a lot of times we're making lifestyle changes as a goal, and we want to know and keep in mind that it takes 90 days to make a new habit."
And Vega has a tip on how to get started making more realistic goals.
"I would definitely reference a smart goal, and that is an acronym for being specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely," Vega shares. "So be very specific what your goal is. Go into detail about it and make sure that you are able to obtain it that is realistic for you and then we can even put some type of timeline or detailed identification of a measurement so that we know what we're doing."