Coming into this school year I knew I would face many new challenges that where both exciting and intimidating. Thus far, this academic year has been like no other schooling I have faced so far, and it has challenged me physically, mentally, and emotionally. One thing that has pushed me to keep going has been the goals I set for myself both in this class and also personally. I honestly feel that if I did not go into this year with goals set both academically and personally, I would not have pushed myself as hard as I have and held myself to the standard I do. Often times as a student I will push my personal needs and well-being to the side and focus on the assignment I need to get done or the test I need to study for. This may have benefited me academically in the short term but as we have learned through this course, and other, if you don’t take care of yourself you can’t fully take care of others. Although I have not fully fulfilled all my goals from the beginning of the year, I would say that I have been more aware of these aspects of selfcare and working towards fulfilling my personal goals. Throughout this paper I will reference “transtheoretical model of behavioral change” in reference to my readiness to act on goals and improve or change my behavior. There are six stages of change that are as follows; precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse. Most of my goals are at the contemplation or action stage since going into this assignment I was already aware that I needed to make some changes in my life.   

As I stated in the Wellness Self Care Goal Sheet, my first and most important goal was to work on my emotional wellness. When I took the IHWA questionnaire in September, I scored a 5 out of 20 on my emotional wellness section. As of November 3rd, when I took the questionnaire again, my score has drastically improved to now being a 15 out of 20. This surpassed the 10 out of 20 goal I had originally set in my strategies for attaining my goal which is something I am proud of and will keep working at.  I talked extensively about how I hold in my feelings and am not able to express my emotions in an appropriate way and that I was going to work on being more open with my friends and family. Of all the goals I set, this is the goal I was most determined to achieve because it is something that I knew would help me grow as a person. 

For too long I have held everything in because I didn’t want to hurt or offend anyone, and it has taken a lot of time to realize how much of a toll it takes to always act indifferent. Over the past couple months, I have pushed myself to be more open about when I’m stress, annoyed, anxious, or just need to talk to someone. All though this hasn’t been an easy thing to do, I have noticed that the more I do talk to others the easier it has become. Being more open has also helped me to become closer with some people in my life, especially fellow classmates, because we are all going through the same things and understand what the other is going through. It’s also been a huge personal awakening that expressing your feelings and emotions to others doesn’t make you weak or a burden, it just makes you human. At the beginning of the semester I was definitely at the determination stage of the transtheoretical model but as time has passed and I have had time to work on my emotional wellness I would now say I’m comfortably in the action stage. Although I have seen some improvements, there is still more that I can and will work on when it comes to being more open and willing to share emotion and I think this openness will come with more practice. 

The second goal I set for myself was to work on my physical and nutritional wellbeing. Although on the IHWA questionnaire, physical exercise and physical nutritional wellbeing are two separate sections, I really think that these two sections go hand and hand for me, so I grouped them into my own category.  I know that for me personally when I am active and go to the gym or at least for a walk during the day I feel better and am more motivated. That being said, I often don’t take the time to take care of myself in that way because I am tired and overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to get done. Also, now that I live off campus and no longer have a meal plan, I am responsible for preparing all my own meals and making sure I go grocery shopping. At the beginning of the semester I made the goals for myself that I would cook myself a healthy dinner and try and work out or at least go for a walk every day. All though this was a goal I really wanted to work on, it is something that I have not made a priority. At the beginning of the semester I was going to the gym or walking on the beach every day and making sure that I bought lots of fruit, vegetables, and other healthy foods for dinner and lunches. As the school year picked up and the workload increased, I started skipping my walks and buy more foods that where convenient or some weeks not even buying any food. 

I noticed that as my physical and nutrition wellbeing declined so did my overall well-being. Now at a little over the halfway point in the semester I am starting again to make exercise and eating well a priority. The first time I took the IHWA questionnaire I scored a 10 out of 20 on the physical and nutritional wellbeing portion. This was not a terrible score, but I also knew I needed to improve on it to better myself. Now when I took it again on November 3rd, I scored a 6 out of 20 since the amount of real food I eat, and my mindful eating habits have declined. Most of the time when I’m eating now, it is a microwave meal that I eat in front of the TV while I am doing homework or studying.  Based on the transtheoretical model, I would say that at the beginning of the semester I was at the preparation stage before the Goal Assignment and then entered into the action stage where I was really focused on eating right and working out. By about mid-October I would say that I relapsed into my old ways and was back to eating what was convenient and not nutritious or healthy. Now though I am working my way back into the action stage of getting and preparing health food and working out every day. This is something I am really working towards since physical and nutritional wellbeing contributes strongly to overall wellbeing. 

Overall making, setting, and achieving my goals is something that I strive to do every day. Although thus far in the school year I have not necessarily achieved all the goals I have set for myself, I have been more aware of my overall health and wellbeing and am working on improving myself. The biggest change I have made and need to continue making is managing my time and not letting myself get overwhelmed with my schoolwork. As my Mom has always said, “school is your job right now,” and although this is true it is also my job to take care of myself and make sure that I am doing well physically, emotionally, and mentally. This class and the lessons we have learned about selfcare have been eye-opening to how much taking care of yourself effects all aspects of your life. As I have been writing this paper and reflecting on the changes I have made and the changes I still need to make, I’m re-inspired and motivated to put in the much-needed effort to achieve my goals and benefit my life for the future. By learning how to take care of myself now, I am creating a foundation of selfcare for the future.  

Reference

Integrative Health and Wellness Assessment ™. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.deeprootshealing.org/integrative-health-wellness-assessment/.

Martin, K. (2009). Research Center for Stroke and Heart Disease.  Retrieved Sept. 5, 2013 fromhttp://www.hearttruthnewyork.org/content/Prochaska_Transtheoretical_Model.pdf