Episode 107: 5 Quick Tips to Assess Our Start of 2021

We ushered 2020 out the door and washed our hands of it.   Of course, we sanitized them too, in order to welcome 2021 with open arms and hopeful hearts.   Some of us jumped right in with plans and goals to start the year out right and prove that “we got this”.  Others of us, feeling more battered by the ups, downs and uncertainties of the past year, are taking it slower.  We are taking one small step at a time and seeing how it goes.  No matter how you started your January, now is a good time to reflect on the last few weeks to see how you are feeling and make plans for moving forward. 

When consulting with a client, a dietitian asks questions, assesses how things are going and helps to set goals for the weeks ahead.  In our training we were taught to take notes with the old school acronym, SOAP, during these meetings.

S:  Subjective finding - What the client reports, how they feel. 

O: Objective findings – Things that can be measured like lab work and blood pressure. 

A:  Assessment – Compare how they feel with their measured results and together develop a plan.

P:  Plan – Come up with new or revamped goals and set up a follow up visit to do it all again…  listen, assess, plan.

This is not a “one and done” scenario.  We meet with you on a regular basis and ask more questions, assess your progress and help you to tweak your goals because this is where the real life comes in.  We all know what happens to “the best laid plans”.  We do all this planning and it’s supposed to work out perfectly, and inevitably life happens, and our plans can get derailed! 

Some of you check in with me, weekly, monthly or as needed. Others feel comfortable checking in with yourself monthly or even just once a year when you get that feeling to assess your life goals and see if you should be tweaking them.  If you are listening to me today, it is a good time to assess how your year has started and get it back on track if it has already veered off.  Here are 5 tips to help you.

Tip 1: Success leaves clues, track your evidence? If you track or log your accomplishments, you can look back over time and see what is working well and where you need to tweak your goals.

Tip 2: Pull in Accountability –Who is holding you accountable to your goals? We can make excuses to ourselves but most of us care if other people are proud of our efforts. 

Tip 3: Give yourself permission to screw up – if you have a list of things you would like to accomplish in a day and you only get to a few of them, don’t beat yourself up. Give yourself accolades for the things you did manage to do! The day was not a failure it just had room for improvement. 

Tip 4: Assess your needs for referrals – If you feel like you are overwhelmed, and anxiety is overtaking your life it might be time to pull in a professional! I h