As 2011 comes to an end, I am evaluating my wellness vision. In late 2010, a fellow weight loss surgery buddy was talking about building his personal wellness vision. It intrigued me. I didn’t know what a wellness vision exactly was. I had a good grasp on what a vision was from working in corporate America. I was curious how to apply the concept to wellness. After some research, I knew it was exactly what I needed.
A wellness vision is a big picture of where you want to be in terms of your health and wellbeing at a given point in time. Goals are set to make the vision come to life. I like this technique because it made me formulate where I wanted to be rather than just writing down a dozen or so things I wanted to achieve in the coming year. I actually spent several months playing with the content and wording during my lunch breaks. I was pretty happy with the results.
As a happy, successful, and active post-op bariatric patient, I draw on my talents, life experiences and passions to motivate myself and others to be mentally, emotionally and physically fit.
A year has passed living the above vision. The good news is that it is as applicable today as it was a year ago to my life. I did spend the year very much making this vision a reality. The real test of how well the vision was crafted is in how effective I was on meeting the supporting goals. My assessment on the effectiveness of the goals follows.
Goal #1: Defining my social networking presence – I did very well on this goal. I launched my redesigned and refocused blog in late January and have been pretty consistent in adding relevant and interesting content. I began tweeting but still consider myself a novice tweeter. I hope to become a more involved in the Twitter community in 2012. I feel I have established myself as a player in the weight loss surgery social network.
Goal #2: Enriching my life and growing my support network – This goal was right on target. I am proud of being one of the founders of Movin’ On, a local long term bariatric patient support group. I began hiking and started attending yoga classes. I did not meet my goal of returning to church. I saw my life expand and develop in new areas as my support network grew.
Goal #3: Live a healthy eating mentality – I met the majority of the supporting goals for this goal. My weight remains consistent and my eating habits about the same. I occasionally struggle with eating unhealthy. I was not able to lose the additional 10 pounds. I have come to understand that success in maintaining a healthy weight is not about the scale and those 10 pounds.
Goal #4: Improve and share my cycling skills – I pretty much blew this goal out of the water. The Spin-offs continued to grow. I completed my first weeklong cycling tour, a trip from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C.with my best friend Chuck. I cycled in the NYC 5 Boro Ride, Sweet Corn Ride and Pedal to the Point. Cycling became my passion in 2011 and continues to drive my wellness as I enter 2012.
My wellness vision and the above goals did what they were supposed to do. They gave me that look into where I needed to be at this point in time. The goals were specific enough to move me along and check off when I accomplished them. I now believe more than I did a year ago that a wellness vision is how I will continue to guide my life in the years to come.
I am currently looking at my wellness vision for 2012. I believe the current vision will stand. I am looking at the 2011 goals and how they fit into 2012. Many will remain; a few will drop off; and some new ones will expand my overall wellness. Look for a post around New Year’s Day on my 2012 wellness vision and supporting goals.