Spring is here and we are officially a quarter of the way into this year. How are your resolutions coming? Do you feel like you have made some progress toward your goals? Now is a great time to reassess, to decide what has worked and what hasn't. If we don't stop to check the rear-view mirror occasionally, we can get a long way down the road in the wrong direction. We also may not be quite as far as we thought we were.

An important part in the goal setting process is creating check points along the way to make sure that you are on track. If you have been doing that, great job! You are likely on track to reaching your goals. If you haven't had check points, time to really look hard at whether or not you've made any progress. In our day-to-day lives we buzz around doing, doing, doing and feel like we're being so successful and productive, when we are actually not getting any closer to our goals. When we do this, we're failing so slowly that we believe we're succeeding. What do I mean by that? I mean, that we are falling short of reaching our goals on a daily basis, while feeling as though our efforts are getting us closer to the bigger goal. This happens because we miss (or lack) those daily check-ins and weekly milestones that keep us on track.

The opposite can also be true, we can be succeeding so slowly that it feels like we are failing. This is especially true with health and wellness. Healthy progress, progress that lasts, takes time. Sometimes it can feel as though you have gotten nowhere over a period of weeks and months unless you stop to double check and see where you stand. You can test your gains in strength, measure inches lost or gained, or even a number on the scale. Those numbers will likely change slowly and that can be frustrating! In this way, you are succeeding so slowly that it may feel as though you are failing. This is the kind of success that lasts! Getting rich quick, getting skinny fast, gaining muscle overnight, instant success of any kind isn't real. Hard work, dedication, consistency and being accountable are the keys to change and success.

So as you move into the 2nd quarter of this year, look back and write down what has worked and what didn't. Ask yourself if you have been checking off the boxes weekly and monthly? Have you been running around in circles and getting nowhere? Or have you been the methodically putting one foot in front of the other feeling as though you are not getting anywhere, but you've actually made some progress? Hopefully it is the latter. If that's the case, time to set some new goals! Keep challenging yourself, keep pushing yourself. The healthiest version of you is within reach, all you have to do is get there!