Welcome to the Family Chiropractic & Massage blog! Here, we will discuss anything and everything that has to do with chiropractic care and wellness. We will share helpful information and hopefully answer any questions you have through our articles. We are a chiropractic clinic that began in 1997 and has since grown to locations in North Charleston, Summerville, and Moncks Corner, South Carolina. We are dedicated to providing tailored care and treatment with traditional and new techniques to help our patients reach their wellness goals. We treat a variety of conditions including neck pain, back pain, injuries, sciatica, scoliosis, and more. Besides chiropractic care, we also offer physiotherapeutic care, rehabilitative care, and massage therapy. Our licensed massage therapists offer all types of massage from deep tissue to compression massage and more. We are strong believers in natural healing! Check out our website to find out more information about the services and care we offer, and contact us today to schedule an appointment with our experienced doctors!
In our last post, we talked about arthritis and how chiropractic care can help. Over 52.5 million people have arthritis or another rheumatic condition diagnosed by a doctor. Arthritis is characterized as the inflammation of one or more joints, causing pain and stiffness. Chiropractic care is one of the safest and most effective treatments for arthritis, because it is natural and drug-free. If you are interested in learning more, we encourage you to check out our last post!
Today, we’ll be discussing the importance of health goals and how you can achieve them. As we approach January, many of us will have New Year’s resolutions– These are usually good decisions we make or goals we want to achieve in the new year. Oftentimes, these resolutions are centered around wanting to adopt a healthier lifestyle. However, by the end of the year, many people feel that they were unsuccessful in fulfilling these resolutions. Luckily, there are steps you can take to ensure that you achieve your health goals! If you are interested in learning how you can do so, you’re in the right place. Let’s get started.
Why are health goals important?
First, let’s take a look at the importance of setting health goals. We all understand the importance of health– We want our bodies to function at their optimal best! However, this is not always easy, and sometimes medical conditions or other issues can throw a wrench into our plans. Most often, though, our overall health depends on choices we make. Health goals are important because they help us prioritize our health and well-being. They help us create healthy habits that enable us to achieve overall wellness physically, mentally, and socially.
Setting a health goal is one thing, but achieving it is another. For example, each year, many people declare that their goal or New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. However, many people fail to achieve this goal because it is not well-defined or specific. Rather than saying that you want to lose weight this year, or you want to eat healthier this year, you should dig deeper. That’s where SMART goals come in!
SMART Goals
SMART goal setting is a method that helps you clearly define your goals and how you will achieve them. SMART is an acronym which stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. Let’s take a closer look.
- Specific: Your health goals should be clearly defined. Avoid being vague. For example, if your goal is to eat healthier, think about why you want to eat healthier and how you are going to accomplish the goal. Do you want to eat healthier in order to lose weight, or do you want to make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals? Are you going to cut certain foods out of your diet? Will you plan your meals in advance? Being specific will help you achieve your goal.
- Measurable: Can this goal be tracked? If so, how will you track your progress? Tracking your progress will help you monitor how you are doing and hold yourself accountable. When it comes to our example goal of eating healthier, you may choose to log all of the foods you eat each day into a journal.
- Attainable: Make sure that your goal is attainable for you. If it is not, try breaking your goal into smaller goals that can be accomplished over time. For example, you may choose to cut out a different unhealthy food or drink from your diet each week, rather than cutting out everything all at once.
- Relevant: Is your goal relevant and realistic? If you set the bar too high, you may become discouraged if you do not make the progress you expected. Additionally, you may find that another aspect of your health is a bigger priority or more relevant to you at the moment. In that case, you may want to switch goals.
- Time-bound: Think about when you want to start working towards your goal and when you plan to achieve it. Write down a deadline or target date for achieving that goal. If you’ve broken your goal into a series of smaller goals, set a deadline for each one.
Tips For Achieving Health Goals
Using the SMART goal method is a great first step towards achieving your health goals. However, there are other steps you can take to motivate yourself and ensure that you will accomplish your goal.
Ask yourself: Why do I want to achieve this goal?
This is a great question to ask yourself. What is your motivation? Think about the reason why you wanted to set this goal. Are you doing it for yourself, or to please someone else? It is important to understand the intention behind your goals– This will help you find motivation when you need it most!
Write your goals down.
Studies have found that writing your goals down may help you achieve them. Writing down goals, especially using the SMART method, helps you clarify what you want to achieve, which then guides your actions towards that achievement. Everyone is different, so do what feels right for you! For example, you may choose to set a reminder of your goal on your cell phone, write it down and stick it to your refrigerator, mark it down in your calendar, or anything else you feel may be beneficial to you. If you’ve written your goal down, be sure to update it with any achievements as you make them!
Start small.
Don’t be afraid to start small. Sometimes, the ultimate goal is a big change that can be overwhelming if done all at once, so starting with small changes first may be beneficial. As you grow comfortable with each small change, you’ll be more confident to take on the next challenge, and before you know it, you’ll achieve your end goal!
Hold yourself accountable.
It may be tempting to fall back into old habits, especially in the beginning stages of working towards your goal. Keeping track of your progress in a journal is a great way to hold yourself accountable– Write down the times that you’ve made mistakes and strayed from your goal, too. You may also find it helpful to have a friend or loved one hold you accountable. For example, if you need to workout every day to reach your goal, having a friend to workout with can help because you’d be less likely to skip the gym if you know your friend is waiting for you.
Visit a chiropractor.
Chiropractors aren’t only for back pain! We believe that the body has the ability to heal itself naturally and that spinal adjustments can contribute to your overall health. Chiropractors can also offer nutritional advice as well as tips on how to adopt a healthier lifestyle. In fact, making an appointment with a chiropractor is a great first step towards achieving your health goals!
We hope you found this article informative, and we encourage you to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. It would be a pleasure to assist you. Here at Family Chiropractic & Massage, we offer chiropractic care as well as massage services and heat and cold therapy. We have doctors who have studied various chiropractic techniques to render care to patients with different types of conditions. As people vary, so do the techniques chosen to help each patient get well. We use evidence-based treatment methods to help patients get better faster. If you are suffering from any type of back pain, contact us today to set up an appointment so we can assess your needs and create an effective treatment plan. One of our experienced doctors would love to help get you on the right track to living a healthy, pain-free life! Thank you for reading, and we hope you’ll check back for more articles about chiropractic care and all it has to offer!
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