The Busy Person’s Guide to Setting Health Goals

The Busy Person’s Guide to Setting Health Goals

Finding time to focus on your health can feel like another thing you just don’t have time for. Here are three steps to help you set goals and move toward a healthier you — without adding more to your packed schedule.

Step 1: Start with small changes

When we say small, we’re not kidding. The smaller the goal, the less time and motivation it takes to accomplish. And every goal you accomplish fuels your motivation to do more.

You can use the Omada app to set small, specific goals after a lesson or through the goal tracker.

Here are examples of how to turn big goals into small, achievable ones:

If your big goal is to exercise every day for 20 minutes, start with a small goal to walk for 5 minutes after lunch.
If your big goal is to pack a healthy lunch ever day, start with a small goal to take a piece of fruit with you tomorrow.

Step 2: Work with the time you have

When it comes to finding time for your health, it can help to look for free minutes, not free hours. You may not have a large block of time that you can spare in a day, but you may have 10 or 15 minutes. That’s more than enough to start building healthy habits that you can build on.

Step 3: Stick with the changes that fit your life

Start with the changes you want to work on (not what you think you should work on). As you experiment, you may find that some changes fit your life and some don’t. That’s all part of the process. Stick with what works for you and the time you have, and you’ll quickly gain momentum that’ll carry you toward your larger health goals.