Yippee! It's back to school! Well, maybe not everyone experiences this annual transition with as much enthusiasm as I do…
For me, back to school is a bit like the first of the year: a phase of renewal, fresh starts, teeming projects and a thousand and one possibilities.
We often want to start the school year on the right foot by implementing new strategies to brighten up and facilitate our daily lives.
To avoid experiencing disappointment and demotivation, it is better to prepare well. And that preparation starts first and foremost with: setting realistic goals.
How to set realistic goals?
Start from your needs, interests and desires first, then prioritize. Because no, we can't do EVERYTHING at the same time. In fact, maybe we will get there for a week or two, but then we will get discouraged by the enormity of the task and give up. Not super good for motivation, is it?
Also, it is essential to target your strengths – these are the ones we will use to meet the challenges set – as well as our limits – what we aim to improve, ultimately.
By targeting all of this, we ensure amaximum motivation to take action but also perseverance to maintain efforts over the long term.
Some examples of ways to achieve our goals
If, for example, we want to improve communication within the family, we could favor a fixed time during the week to set up a small “family council”. This moment of discussion will allow us to talk about what we liked and disliked about our week, for example, in addition to making suggestions on what could be put in place to improve everyone's well-being.
If one of our goals is to spend less time doing $?&& housework, we could, as a family, divide up the household chores. The children are involved to the extent of their abilities in the process and everyone is happy to live in a (still) clean and tidy house. Yeah!
To take better care of our mental he alth, we could also think of setting up a daily relaxation period of just a few minutes (remember, realistic goal). For example, one might choose to start with five minutes of quiet in a comfortable room and then gradually increase over time.
Why not plan a little romantic moment monthly? Or try to be more consistent in the evening routine, for example?
In short, lots of little everyday things can obviously be improved with an ultimate goal: our well-being for all.
But we rememberto take it one step at a time in order to take the time to appreciate your efforts and successes and then to correct the situation if necessary.
