Alice Halvorson

Want to reach your goals? Do these 5 things

Alice Halvorson · August 3, 2023 ·

Tis the season for goal setting, resolutions, and embarking on new ventures. Most of us have that nagging feeling that we want to make changes and start fresh. This can happen at any point for any reason, but the drive is especially strong right now as we usher in a new year. We always have good intentions, but many times we miss the mark with our plan (wait, I need a plan?!) and ultimately fail to reach whatever we set out to achieve. How can we do better? What do we need to change to reach the goals we set and get the results we seek?

Here are 5 things you should be doing to reach your goals:

Number 1: Make your Goals “Smart Goals”

You’ve probably heard this one already, but it bears repeating. Your goals should be S.M.A.R.T. That stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. Why?

Specific goals help bring focus to what you want. You can’t do everything; narrow it down.

Measurable goals are anchored in metrics that you can measure and therefore track. How will you know how far you’ve come if you don’t have a way to measure it?

Achievable goals are things that you know you can realistically accomplish. So probably not losing 20lbs in one month or climbing Mt. Everest…forget the extreme, get real instead.

Relevant goals are those that make sense in your life. Why is this goal important to you? This may be one of the most important aspects of your goal and goal setting in general – THE WHY. It has to mean something to you, or when the going gets tough, you’ll jump ship.

Time Bound goals have a deadline attached to them. You need this time frame so you can create your plan. It also gives you a sense of urgency that motivates you to act.

Number 2: Defining Your “WHY”

Get crystal clear on why you want to do this. Why change at all? Why THIS goal? Make it for you, not for anyone else. Why will this goal improve your life, health or situation? Why is it important? Visualize how you will feel once you achieve this goal. Is it striking a nerve or not? Go deeper and keep asking “why” until you can articulate why this goal is important to pursue.

Number 3: Learn from Past Experiences / Failures

Most likely you’ve tried to make changes before, or even tried to achieve this same goal in the past. Reflect on that. What worked? What didn’t? What were your “hiccups”? Where did you get stuck? When did it get hard and why? This reflection could give you some important information on what strategies to use this time around.

Number 4: Secure a Source of Accountability

Tell someone about your goal, and better yet, someone with whom you value their opinion (related article). And get specific. Talking about the plan you will do specifically (versus the end goal) is even more beneficial in terms of holding you accountable. There is a part of you that won’t want to let the person you tell down or risk their disappointment if you fail. Use this to your advantage! And along with that, get yourself an “Accountability Partner”. Maybe this is a coach, friend, trainer, colleague – someone that you trust and “gets it”…someone that will support you through the journey, but will also get real with you and coax you back on track when things get challenging. Speaking of challenges…

Number 5: Expect Challenges

If nothing changes, nothing changes. Reaching a new goal will require a shift in you and it will require WORK from you. This is uncomfortable. I believe this is one area where people tend to have a blind spot. We want to skirt through on motivation alone, thinking it should be relatively easy because we just want to succeed so bad. However, there will be times that you want to quit and following your plan will be hard. What’s your plan when it gets tough?

When that happens, you know what? Come back to this article. Come back to your “Why”. Analyze it all again. Call your accountability partner. Follow your plan. Keep on going. You’ll shatter your goals and learn a ton in the process!

The Power of Strength Training for Women

Alice Halvorson · May 17, 2023 ·

What if I told you that there is indeed a “fountain of youth”? It’s no joke. And it is more simple and less expensive than you are imagining. It’s called strength training and here is why it’s important for everyone, particularly women.

Strength Training Helps Preserve Muscle Mass

Muscle mass decreases approximately 3–5% per decade after the age of 30 and this rate of decline is even higher after the age of 60. This leads to a loss of strength, which increases vulnerability to injury due to bone density changes and stability issues. When we lose muscle it is also accompanied by a progressive increase in fat mass. Essentially we change our body composition, which isn’t desirable! The look most people women desire is a body that has more muscle mass on it…not less. Strength training helps stimulate muscle fibers and signals our brain to hold on to that muscle tissue. By the way – lifting weights does not make you “manly” or “bulky”. It makes you strong, toned and resilient.

Strength Training Strengthens Bones and Helps Prevent Osteoporosis

An estimated eight million women and two million men in the United States have osteoporosis. Of the several exercise training programs, resistance training is known to be highly beneficial for the preservation of bone and muscle mass.

Activities that put stress on bones can nudge bone-forming cells into action. That stress comes from the physical tugging and pushing on bone that occur during strength training (as well as weight-bearing aerobic exercises like walking or running). Strong bones are essential to prevent injuries.

Strength Training Improves Mood

We all know that exercise has mood-boosting capabilities. And it’s not just the classic “runner’s high”. Results from a 2018 study showed that resistance exercise “significantly reduced depressive symptoms” among research participants. One notable finding was that participants showed an improvement in their mood regardless of whether they grew physically stronger from the exercises. That’s pretty powerful!

Strength Training Improves Posture and Balance

No one wants to see their posture reduced – or the dreaded hunchback as they age. Resistance training improves posture by strengthening the muscles of your upper back, shoulders, hips and core, helping bring these muscle groups back into balance and our joints into proper alignment. Lifting weights also helps improve our balance by strengthening the muscles around our joints.

Strength Training Improves Confidence!

Resistance training builds confidence. There is such power and satisfaction that comes from working hard in the gym. And, as simple as it sounds, some of that stems from literally lifting heavy things. Knowing you can do it, you are capable and you are strong.

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Boost your Well-Being with Meditation

Alice Halvorson · May 17, 2023 ·

Meditation. Many of you may already be deep into this practice and, dare I say, many more of you may be reluctant to try it – for any number of reasons. But meditation might just be ALL it’s cracked up to be…and more.

What if I said a few minutes a day is all you need to start reducing your stress and increasing feelings of well-being? Having a positive well-being is associated with being able to hold a state of positive emotion for a longer period of time and having more positive emotions in general. It’s finding yourself in a state where you are engaged, calm, and for the most part – happy. According to this article in INC. Magazine, “In other words, you feel good about what’s happening in your life, you feel a sense of connection to others around you and your life has meaning to you.”

Sounds pretty great, right? But can meditation help you get there?

What is Meditation?

Meditation can take on many forms, but it helps to think of it simply as a technique for learning how to redirect your attention to achieve a state of calm, relaxation and focus. Here, you are able to be present and align with the current state of feeling in your mind and body. Without distractions or worry of past and present, our mind is able to “let go” and just be. We aim to be mindful of what is happening without attaching judgment.

Attention and acceptance are two main parts of the popular “mindfulness” style of meditation (like Flostate’s meditations), and are often achieved through a focus on our breath, the feelings we are experiencing, any sensations in our body and the adoption of a positive mantra or message. This is, however, easier said than done, and why meditation (not unlike yoga) is considered a “practice”. It takes time and practice to be able to arrive in this state of calm concentration in the present moment. But it’s worth it.

Meditation Benefits

Meditation has many benefits that can have a positive effect on the well-being of the whole person – mind and body. According to a Scientific Reports article, large percentages of respondents reported that meditation helped to reduce stress or to aid relaxation (89.4%), to feel better emotionally (86.9%), to improve overall health and make them feel better (79.0%) and/or to sleep better (69.3%) Adults who used mindfulness meditation self-reported positive outcomes more frequently when compared to adults who used mantra or spiritual meditation practices.

Psychologists have found that mindfulness meditation actually changes our brain and biology in positive ways, improving mental and physical health. How? Meditation is shown to thicken the prefrontal cortex. This brain center manages higher order brain function, like increased awareness, concentration, and decision making. Meditation also helps increase the efficiency of brain pathways that process information coming in from the senses, and boosts the ability of the brain to direct attention down to the information of interest (aka helps participants focus without distraction).

“Meditation is a cognitive technique that improves a person’s mind, body, and soul. Psychological aspects, like insight, attention, reflection, and self-regulation are deepened,” says Dr. Deborah Serani, professor at Adelphi University in New York. “Meditation can also increase physical experiences, such as increase relaxation, fortify healing, recovery and a stronger immune response, as well as decrease pain, anxiety, stress, depression and blood pressure,” adds Serani.

Also to note, by helping us calm down and focus, meditation deactivates our sympathetic nervous system (our “fight or flight” response), and switches on our parasympathetic system (“rest and digest” response). This is a huge benefit for us given the high-stress, overly-scheduled, fast-moving world that we live in.

All of these benefits contribute strongly to an improved overall sense of well-being. In fact, there really aren’t any downsides or risks to a mindfulness practice! So why not open your mind and your heart to trying it out? P.S. It doesn’t have to take a long time and you can do it anywhere.

Meditate with Flostate!

Flostate now has meditation sessions in our on-demand library! Make meditation a part of your daily or weekly routine, and we know you’ll start to realize the benefits! View Meditation classes on-demand at www.theflostate.com/on-demand. Sign up for a live class www.theflostate.com/schedule.

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