Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be –George Sheehan
Keeping a success journal is a great way to track progress with a goal. Whether you have decided to eat clean, boost your fitness program, increase your stress management, or focus on saving money or improving your credit, tracking will help you to see what you have accomplished.
There are many tools that you can use, from a good old notebook to write down your physical activity and exercise, or apps for your phone like MyFitnessPal.com or FitBit apps to track your food intake. Journaling can help you track as well. As a writer, this is my preferred method of tracking most things, although I use apps as well for fitness and occasionally to see where I am at with my daily nutrition. Journaling can help you feel like you are not having to necessarily “log” everything you do, and can help you to really hash out what is going on to look at to see where you can make changes.
If you find that you are struggling with clean eating, having a journal to reflect back on can help you identify the barriers that are getting in your way. Was it a stressful day? Did you have meetings and forgot to pack your lunch? Maybe stress management is your goal. A journal can help you see how you feel after a yoga class, or taking a walk, or sitting in your yard meditating or watching the birds fly by. What was effective? What seemed to be happening on the days when you felt your best or felt like you lost sight of your goal.
Tracking your success can also help you focus on the positives. Instead of thinking about what you didn’t do, where you dropped a ball, write down the things you did accomplish and focus on building on that. Staying positive and not letting your mind get stuck in negativity is one way to really help you keep moving in the right direction. If you only focus on failures, such as “accidentally” eating a doughnut when you are trying to eat clean, or not getting your cardio done for the week if exercise is your goal, you will be less likely to want to continue on the path toward where you want to be. Focus on the good nutrition that you got each day, did you get your vegetables in? Did you drink enough water? Write down your workouts and how you felt afterwards. With all things, building on strengths and success will beget more success.
Some good tools that I have found:
FitBit app (and wearing a FitBit)
MyFitnessPal.com
MapMyRun.com
CreditKarm.com (for improving and tracking credit rating), as well as monitoring my savings accounts bi-weekly.
Blank journals
BodyforLife.com has great fitness and nutrition logs that you can print off.
Let me know what questions you have about wellness. I can be reached at [email protected].
Liz Jones is the Wellness Coordinator for the City of Mesquite and a wellness professional in Rockwall, Mesquite, Wylie and surrounding areas. She is a writer, certified yoga instructor, personal trainer and wellness coach. She holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership and Strategic Management, with a graduate certificate in Ethics and Leadership. Her undergraduate studies included communication, business, writing, art, fitness, and dance. Liz Jones can be reached at: [email protected].
