Set, maintain priorities to improve self

  • Published
  • By Col. Karen Heupel
  • 60th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Many people like to make resolutions and diet plans when a change in calendar year occurs.

Unfortunately, many of the resolutions are broken and tossed aside like garbage before the first month of the new year is over. Rather than make resolutions, it is time to set life priorities.

Too many people say they don't have time to exercise or eat right, but, in reality, those individuals have set their priorities in such a way that they "don't have time." To set your life's priorities it is helpful to start with a list of what frequency and how much time you spend on various activities, then, next to it, how much time you want to change it. The list should include work, time with family, time working toward future goals such as studying for promotion or your next educational degree. But it should also include time for exercise, hobbies, sleeping, meal preparation and specific leisure time activities.

If we don't plan time for exercise, eating healthy, sleeping enough hours and time for relaxing, we become off-balance and typically more irritated with the myriad of little things that need to be dealt with. Our resilience decreases and we get tired, eat worse, exercise less and get ourselves into a downward unhealthy spiral. We ignore the small positives that come our way each day to the point where we only see the negative in everything and everyone around us. It becomes difficult to dig ourselves out of the hole we have dug.

"Relaxing with your feet up or being involved in activities that provide genuine enjoyment are not niceties of physical health" wrote Robert J. Wicks in the book "Bounce." "Rather, they are the undervalued but essential building blocks to good health."

Too often we feel like we are "wasting time" with leisure activities. This leads us to the dysfunctional philosophy that we are machines and that stress doesn't bother us. Ignoring the sources and effects of stress in our lives is one of the most insidious dangers to our sense of well-being. This puts us on the path toward burnout, which narrows our focus, limits the way we live and eventually distorts our view of ourselves and our lives.

Here are a few steps that are the basics of stress management.

1. Set aside "sacred time" for yourself every day.

2. Exercise regularly and make it a part of your daily routine. You will have more energy.

3. Eat healthy and keep your weight down.

4. Ensure you allow yourself time to get adequate, quality sleep.

5. Know what is important and what isn't and make priorities for what is important in your life.

6. Be aware of and appreciate the positives.

7. Don't exaggerate the negatives or you may drown in them.

8. Reflect on what gifts have been given to you, no matter how small.

9. Pay attention to when your life is getting out of balance then do something about it.

If you choose to take the time needed to ensure your life remains or gets balanced, you will find yourself healthier, happier and more productive. This in turn can be used to help others get motivated and be a more positive force to those around them.