Wellness Goals

At the beginning of the semester I envisioned a set of goals for myself  in hopes of improving my health and wellness. My first goal involved working on my life balance and satisfaction. Specifically, I aimed to improve how I coped with stress, anxiety, and negative thoughts. My second goal centered around processing and expressing my emotions in a healthier way. When I made these goals, I sought to fix problems that would impede my happiness and well-being. Such problems have hindered my ability to be the best possible version of myself in the past, therefore I devised goals to be appropriate remedies to these issues. Upon reflection of whether or not my goals were met, I find I have success in some areas and disappointment in others. I believe my first goal has been successfully attained, as I am managing my anxiety and stress well. However, in regards to my second goal, I fall short. I do not think I have made substantial improvement in processing or expressing my emotions at the present. I recognize the need to develop effective methods to achieve a sense of success in this area.

Meeting my Goals

Although I have my struggled to meet my second goal, I have developed certain methods that have been conducive in meeting my first goal. My first goal included improving my life balance and satisfaction. This was achieved through the use of effective time management and the practice of various self care strategies such as healthy eating, relaxation techniques, and exercise. I realized through taking proper care of myself, I had the energy and motivation to complete the tasks that would often seem to plague my day. Additionally, I have made it a habit to plan out my schedule for the week to alot time to do everything I need and want to do. I find when I make my days more structured and routine, I can complete all my school work and still have time for friends, family, exercise, reading, etc. 

As previously stated, I have had trouble meeting my second goal of expressing and processing my emotions. However, I did have some success in this goal as I have begun to be a little more reflectful in regards to my emotions. I find that taking the time to reflect on my feelings has been helpful in understanding myself a little better, which is a step in the right direction towards achieving this goal.

Barriers 

In my wellness journey, I have been faced with some barriers that distracted me from ultimately meeting my goals. For instance, the balance between life and satisfaction often became unclear producing copious amounts of stress and anxiety. School can be challenging, and the stress of studying and homework can sometimes feel like a heavy weight on my chest. Often I let my good habits slip and I found myself scrambling to complete my tasks on time. This procrastination and stress took away from my balance causing a less than satisfactory outlook on my life. I find when I got too overwhelmed with work I pushed away the positive things in my life and the activities I enjoy in order to focus on my seemingly impossible task at hand. For example, on the eve of an exam I felt unprepared for, I would often skip the gym or miss my club field hockey practice in order to cram. This took away from my balance and left me feeling off- kilter. Stress and school work have been a daunting obstacle to meeting my first goal, however I ultimately remained on track and took steps to prevent any further disruption from my that goal trajectory.

The barriers to my second goal are definitely more internal. This goal of processing and expressing my emotions in a healthier way proved to have many barriers to its achievement. For example, I found it difficult to stop and take the time to evaluate my feelings. Although I have started to make more time to do this presently, I have not always done so. When I would feel myself getting mad, sad, or frustrated, I did not give myself the opportunity to stop and think about why I was feeling the way I was. Instead I let myself feel consumed by my emotions and shut down completely. Additionally, I find it difficult to express my emotions for fear of what others will think of me. This fear has impeded me from expressing my emotions in a healthy manner. I find that I bottle my emotions up instead of letting others know how I feel. For example, if I get angry or frustrated with my roommate I let those emotions turn around inside me without letting them know how I really feel. Instead, those emotions just start to build and build and eventually I find myself feeling extremely overwhelmed and unhappy. I need to work on expressing my emotions and letting other people know how their actions make me feel so I can avoid feeling so overwhelmed and negative.

Prochaska’s Transtheoretical Model

Prochaska’s Transtheoretical Model identifies various stages of a person’s “readiness to change”. Applying this model to my own experience, I would say my journey to wellness started in the contemplation stage. I identified the areas of myself that needed to change and felt encouraged to make the necessary changes. I was very open to making changes in my behavior and saw the ways these changes could improve my wellness in the future. As time went on, I moved more into the preparation and action stage where my I take certain steps to change my behavior and work to maintain the change.

Continuing my Goals

To continue to meet my goals, I will work more on my behavior to maintain the success of my first goal, and alter my behavior to achieve my second goal. In regards to my first goal, I will continue to manage my time wisely and maintain the upkeep of my own personal wellness. Additionally, I will continue to exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep to help to further facilitate the management of my anxieties. Another change I could make in my behavior is reaching out to my friends when my anxieties get the better of me. Talking to someone is important to unburden oneself, so I will definitely implement that into my behavior. 

In regards to my second goal, I will take the time to be more intune with myself and my emotions. I believe if I stop to reflect upon my emotions, the cause of them, and how to express them appropriately, I will have success in meeting this goal.