People often overwhelm themselves by tackling a goal that they think they “should” achieve. They set their sights too high and then quit completely when they don’t make the grade. It helps to make a distinction between the goals you think you want, and the goals to which you will really commit.

1. Read back over the letters and lists you generated in 5. Discover What You Already Know, and star any items that you really want to change or work on in some way. Add any new ones that occur to you. Call this selection of starred items and additions your “Want List.”
   If you didn’t do the exercises offered in that section, draw up a Want List now, noting aspects of your life that you know are affecting your overall health. For example: the people, behaviors, circumstances, and environments that encourage or discourage your wellness.
2. Now look over your Want List and put a double star next to any items that you are ready to change or work on in some way right now. Write down those items in complete sentences that express your willingness to act. For example:
   I am ready and willing to commit to making a change in my habit of driving over the speed limit…
   I am ready and willing to...
3. Prioritize your commitment statements.
4. Starting with your top priority item, brainstorm for a moment or two about any preliminary steps you will need to take before you can start working directly on your goal. For example, will you need to: purchase some special equipment, shop at a different food store, start reading a book on nutrition, get some instruction in weight-bearing exercise, or have a consultation with your doctor? Write these steps down.
   Now set up a schedule for accomplishing these preliminaries. Assigning specific dates, times, places, or methods to these items will maximize the likelihood of your follow-through.
5. Next, make a Resource List of the people, places, and things that are available to help you in fulfilling your commitment. For example:
   My children, I can ask them to remind me of my commitment when they see I am breaking it.
6. Determine the length of time that you will work on this goal. An hour? A day? Two weeks? And decide how often you will check your progress and when you will reevaluate your goal. For example:
   For the next three days I will get up a half-hour earlier each morning and take a vigorous twenty minute walk before having breakfast. I will evaluate my progress (how I felt during the walk; how that exercise affected my overall energy throughout the day) on the evening of the third day and decide then whether I will continue the walks.
7. Keep encouraged by always congratulating yourself for any advances you’ve made, no matter how small. Remember, the bigger your goals the bigger the challenge and the greater the likelihood that you will have setbacks. That’s a normal part of growing and changing. Maintain a nonjudgmental attitude toward yourself for what you have not yet accomplished and honor yourself for what you have done.
8. Work on only one or, at most, two goals at a time. When you have established them as natural parts of your lifestyle, then move on to other goals.

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