What does a healthy lifestyle mean to you?

I'm going to explain why you should have a clear idea of what being healthy means to you. Then I'll show you how to find out and write down your vision of a healthy lifestyle.

So why is it so important to have a clear and specific vision of what being healthy means for you? Setting yourself a goal to get healthy is just too vague and without getting down to the nitty gritty details you are unlikely to achieve it. There is always more you can do and higher levels of health and if it seems like the goal posts are continually moving and never quite in your reach then eventually this will demoralize you and almost certainly lead to you quitting.

However if you start your new health programme with very specific and measurable targets to achieve within a defined period then your chances of success are greatly enhanced right from day one. For this reason it is better to start with a relatively short time period and easily attainable health changes because your motivation levels will remain high. Then when you've achieved your first targets, then your enthusiasm and determination to work towards the next level will be vastly increased and your belief and confidence in your ability to change strengthened.

So how do you find out what healthy means to you? One way to start the process is to think about what you don't like about your current state of health. What are the problems and challenges that make you miserable and are prompting your desire to get healthier? Don't focus on this for too long before starting to turn it round and think about what the opposite would be of each of your current problems.

Another way to identify what a healthy lifestyle means to you, is to set aside some quiet time to reflect and write down the ideas that come to you. Break it down into various aspects of being healthy like your eating habits, exercise and your appearance. Think about people you know and admire for their health or celebrities and ask yourself what specifically do I want to copy. I suggest that you do this over an extended period like a couple of weeks as in my experience more ideas will come to you at odd moments and not just during your focused period of reflection. Don't judge and reject any thoughts, capture everything and then review and select what you are going to work on first.