Welcome to episode 14 of Wellness Wednesday’s Audio Series.

I’m Nissrine, registered holistic nutritionist, mindful nutrition & wellness coach for female entrepreneurs who are looking to prioritize their health and wellbeing without fad diets and wellness trends.

I created this series to bring a fresh perspective to nutrition and wellness, one that is centered on and lead by you.

There’s a plethora of information out there and it can be really hard to know what to do and eat to feel good in your body.

It’s easy to get caught up in fad diets and wellness trends, often questioning, doubting and second guessing your decisions when it comes to the way you nourish and care for yourself.

I wholeheartedly believe that; reconnecting with your own innate wisdom to know what your body needs to thrive is the first step to a life-changing transformation and true lasting wellness; and that progress is made by taking small steps, mindfully, intentionally and consistently.

In today’s episode, I want to do a deep dive on wellness planning. It’s a vague topic because wellness means something different to everyone, but that’s what makes it so powerful.

A wellness plan is unique to you, where you are today, where you want to be, how you want to get there and why you want to embark on that journey.

It’s the first thing I do with my one on one coaching clients, because it sets the stage for the coaching experience and guides your wellness journey.

I talked about components of the wellness plan in Episode 8, so if you haven’t listened to that episode I encourage you to go back and listen to it now. If you have listened to it, you might want to listen again for a refresher.

In this episode, I’m going to walk you through the process of creating a wellness plan for yourself.

Of course, if you’d like support with this process, you can schedule a complimentary wellness consultation with me to ask questions and get some clarity.

The first step in your wellness plan is your Wellness Vision.

Much like a company or business vision, a wellness vision is a statement of what you want most for yourself in the long term. It is your ideal state of holistic wellbeing at the highest level.

To articulate this, first you’ll want to be honest with yourself about where you are today and why it isn’t serving you.

Then you’ll have to get crystal clear about what you want for yourself - how do you want to behave, how do you want to feel, what habits and practices do you want to be doing consistently and with ease and confidence.

As you’re thinking about and answering these questions, remember to think about the positive things you want to be doing and feeling.

If you don’t know what those things are, think about the things you are doing and feeling now that aren’t serving you and reframe them into positives.

An example could be:

Actual current situation:

I don’t have time to take care of myself. I drink too much coffee, I don’t eat well, I don’t exercise, I sit all day and I never get a good night’s sleep. I feel so tired and burnt out. I wish I knew how to make time for myself so I can feel good again.

Vision:

I make time to prioritize my nutrition and self-care. I enjoy a cup of coffee but I don’t rely on it for energy. I eat balanced nutrition meals, I move my body intentionally through exercise and daily activities that get me out of my desk throughout the day, and I have an evening routine that allows me to get a good night’s sleep. I wake up feeling well rested, energized and ready to face the day. I know how to nourish and care for myself and I feel good in my body again.

This is of course is a simple example that only covers one part of a wellness vision statement and you’ll want your wellness vision statement to cover other areas as well including what you want your self-care routine, your stress management techniques, your relationships, your career and your life to look like and how you want to feel about each and every one of these things.

A wellness vision isn’t just about nutrition and physical wellbeing, because wellness is multidimensional and holistic.

The second step in your wellness plan is setting goals

As an entrepreneur I bet you’re familiar with the term SMART goals - specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time based.

They allow us to measure our progress and success easily, with facts and figures.

While SMART goals have many great qualities, there are a few things that are fundamentally flawed with them when it comes to health and wellness especially:

Setting a wellness goal based solely on a number isn’t enough.
When we set goals we’re not actually chasing that goal, we’re chasing a desired feeling. So if we can’t associate a goal, no matter how SMART it is, with a desired feeling, it will be difficult to give meaning to that goal, even when we achieve it.

In some cases, it’s impossible to set a SMART goal because many truly meaningful wellness goals can’t be measured with facts and figures but rather with intuition and feeling.

For example, you’ll never be able to quantify the feeling of ecstasy you might get from knowing you’ve influenced your child’s ability to make healthier choices.

But that doesn’t make it any less valuable as a goal.

The other issue with SMART goals is that they are very outcome based and neglect to measure progress along the way. But we know that most of the time, the journey is far more rewarding than the outcome itself, because that’s where learning, growth and development happen.

That’s when we have our breakthroughs.

So all of that said, how then, should we be setting goals.

I like to use a combination of SMART goals, desired feeling goals and intentions to cover all the bases.

Desired feeling goals, are goals with heart & soul that we feel deeply connected to. They are meaningful to us and our lives.

They’re based on how we want to feel as opposed to what we want to achieve in quantitative terms.

Here’s an exercise adapted from Danielle Laporte’s The Desire Map, for how to set desired feeling goals.

Make a list of all the ways you want to feel about your body, food, and your wellbeing. List as many feelings as come to mind for each area. For example, I want to feel happy, calm, joyful, energized, in control, confident, aware, grateful, intuitive, mindful, etc…
Make sure you really understand what each word means, use a dictionary or thesaurus if you have to, and find a common thread between the words so that you can refine the list down to the 3 to 5 themes. For example, you might group aware, intuitive and mindful into one theme called "be more present or connected"
Create a desired feeling statement based on each of these themes. Here are a few examples:

“I want to feel more present and connected to my body, my mind, the eating experience"
"I want to feel more energized and lighter on my feet"
"I want to feel good about the choices I am making when it comes to my food and movement"
“I want to dress with more ease and feel comfortable and confident in my body”

What you basically have with these statements are your desired feeling goals.

You may not be able to measure them with a number, but you can measure them with a feeling and success is your ability to sustain that feeling on your journey, most of the time.

Of course, there will be times when you can not hold that feeling, and that’s ok. This isn’t all or nothing, the key is to get to the point where you are able to sustain the feeling most of the time and that comes with practice.

This isn’t to say you can’t also have SMART goals, but I challenge and encourage you to attach a desired feeling to it as often as possible.

The third and final step in your wellness plan is setting intentions.

Once you have your heart centered goals, based on the feelings you want to embody, you can set your intentions.

Unlike goals, intentions are “calls to action” that provide you with aim and direction on your journey.

Let’s say you have a very SMART Desired Feeling Goal that checks all the boxes we talked about earlier:

It might sound something like this:

I will lose 10 pounds in 2 months, without sacrificing my relationship with food and my body, while gaining confidence in my food choices, feeling stronger in my body and more energized physically and mentally.

It’s specific, it’s measurable, it’s actionable, realistic and time based, but it’s also based on how you want to feel, not only once you’ve reached your goal, but also on your journey.

This in my opinion is an example of a great wellness goal.

So, you’ve got this great goal and now what.

Here’s where intentions come in and they might sound something like this:.

Eat more mindfully and learn what my body likes and doesn’t like
Eat more balanced meals to meet all of my nutrient needs and reduce mindless snacking between meals and in the evening
Find joy and satisfaction at meal times by learning to incorporate the foods I like into nourishing meals
Move my body every day, in a way that feels good to me, for the benefit of movement itself, and not as a means to manipulate my body
Reduce my reliance on caffeine for energy and find alternative ways to sharpen my focus, such as improved sleep, more movement and better nutrition.

Intentions are the habits that you are going to practice daily, they allow you live in alignment with your wellness vision, in the present moment, so you can experience just how amazing it feels to bring that vision to fruition.

When you act in alignment with your intentions, you’ll experience the desired feelings you’re after, in the present moment, and not just at some time in the future.

When you don’t act in accordance with your intentions on the other hand, you’ll feel it on some level, whether it be physically, emotionally or mentally and you’ll be able to correct your behaviours and actions simply by realigning them to your intentions once again.

As I said earlier, if you’d like support with this process, you can schedule a complimentary wellness consultation with me to ask questions and get some clarity.

You’ll find my booking link in the notes below or by visiting www.holisticniss.com/free-consult.

Book a Complimentary no Obligation Wellness Consultation

To chat about your goals and learn more about my coaching programs and packages and how I can support you in reaching your wellness goals with ease and simplicity as you build the business and life of your dreams.

Let's Chat

On that note, thank you for tuning in.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe and share with a friend and be sure to tune in next week for another episode of Wellness Wednesday Audio Series, where I a share a short audio clip each week to inspire you to reconnect with yourself on a deeper level so you can start nourishing and caring for yourself, more mindfully and intentionally.

Until next week,

Stay healthy, happy and safe,

Nissrine

P.S. If you’d like to be a part of my pilot program, entitled (re) Awaken Your Innate Food Wisdom, a self-paced mindful nutrition program with 4 weeks of group support to help you prioritize your nutrition & wellness without fad diets and trends, get on my mailing list to get an exclusive invitation once I’m ready to launch it.

To get on my mailing list, subscribe to this audio series or download my simple 5 step framework to nourishing meals in minutes and you’ll be the first to know when the pilot program is ready for testing.

It will be a journey to learning more about your body and what it needs to thrive; A mindful approach to nutrition that will improve your relationship with food; and a wellness education program that will guide you for life so your nutrition and self-care will always be a priority.

Episode 14 Three Steps To Creating a Wellness Plan That Fits Your Life