Hello Everyone my name is Ashley and I'm Nicaya and welcome to the Blue Door Neighborhood Center

today Ashley and I are so excited to talk to you a little bit about

benefits and ways to be more optimistic

and

ways to set effective goals

Right?

Yes!

So let's get into it

before we start about,
talking about goal setting

let's talk a little bit about optimism

so Ashley

when you think about optimism,
what comes to mind?

I think about things like positivity,

being hopeful,

things like that.

Absolutely!

I'm also reminded of a song

it's an oldie but goodie

entitled

Optimistic by Sounds of Blackness

in the chorus

the lyrics say

You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky

and

I think I can definitely relate to that
- for sure

according to the oxford dictionary

the definition of optimism is

the hopefulness and the confidence about the future

or the successful outcome of something

spot on
- think about this

have you ever started your day off
with something as simple as

today is going to be an amazing day

I think when you have that simple mindset

you're going to be more optimistic

and more times than not

it's going to be a great day

so I challenge everyone today

and Ashley we can try it out too

to just start off with

a little optimism at the start of your day

Okay

now Ashley I know you want to know
- Yes

what are some of the benefits for being optimistic

because we know

we've done the research

and it says being more optimistic

actually results in healthier outcomes.

So, an optimist

a benefit of it at least would be

an optimist knows more about their own health

and how to be healthy

so

they often know what it takes to maintain their good health

and they track their health work closely

so that's one

here's another

optimists engage in healthier behaviors like

getting more quality sleep

eating healthier fruits and vegetables

even exercising more

and those healthier behaviors lead to

healthier outcomes

let's talk about another one

optimists

engage

when there is a set back
they have more opportunity

to bring it back

and so

optimists

also have better social networks

and they lean into their social networks as well

so those are just a few of the benefits
 of being optimistic

I'm feeling optimistic already

I'm glad you said that

because wherever you're

reflecting on and wherever
you may fall on the optimism spectrum

regardless of where you are

there are some practical ways

to improve them

and so right now Ashley I want to share

and you feel free to jump in too

five ways to have
a more optimistic mindset

okay
- okay

Number One

you can reframe your stressors

by looking at the positive

Pretty straightforward right?
- Absolutely!

Number Two

practice self-compassion

just be kind to yourself

now Number Three

a practical way of having a more optimistic mindset is to let it go

Let __________ It __________ Go

I think we need to say that one more time for the people in the back

all right
LET ___________ IT__________ GO

Absolutely

let's go to Number Four

avoid comparisons
and practice gratitude instead

I know in this day and age it's sometimes difficult

to avoid

the comparison role

especially in Social Media

but if you practice gratitude

things will come back

and so finally

the last one

take some time to find some humor

- Woooow!

Better laugh Right?
- Yes

Laughter is medicine

and by no means is this list exhaustive

but

think about a way you can incorporate
 at least one of these tips

Today

okay

so we're well on our way to being more optimistic
- Yes

Just remember

Optimism can really have some
 positive impact on your overall health

so try to incorporate as many tips

as we share today into your everyday life

all right

now it's time to dig into goal setting

so Ashley

tell us what you got

Yes Nicaya

So

What is goal setting?

when you think about goal setting

What do you actually think about?

I think about putting an action plan into action

you know, writing it down, setting a goal

and writing it out

what actionable steps you can take

Absolutely

so

an actual definition of goal setting

it's just basically the process

of debating and adding

what you want to accomplish

and creating a plan to achieve
 those goals that you want to accomplish

but I have to note though

there's a different

component you need to add into your goal setting when you want to be effective

and the keyword to that is
effective goal setting

you need to do more than just

decide that you want to do something

you actually have to put work in
to accomplish those goals

so you may be wondering

what are some different goal setting types

Right?
- Yeah

so there's basically two types of goal setting

you have your short-term goals

and then you have your long-term goals
- Okay

basically

the short-term goal is something that
 you want to complete in the near future

that can be this week, this month.

basically with anything within this year

okay

um an example of a short-term goal

might be

wanting to lose five pounds within

two weeks
- okay

that's a realistic goal
- short term?

Yeah!
- all right

all right

so a long term goal

it's just something that you want further

invest, and look forward to the future with

that requires more time management, more planning,

things like

making out

 like you said sketching out this whole plan and writing it down

and it's something that you want to achieve
12 months or more

okay

so an example of goal setting would be

I want to lose 50 pounds within a year
- Sounds great

that's a realistic long-term goal
- yeah

awesome

all right so Nicaya.
- Yes

I have a tip for you though

when you're setting your short-term goals

long-term goals

and

effective goals
- okay

so that is

approaching your goals

in a holistic manner

what does that mean Ashley?

Great question Nicaya

that just basically means

assessing all the factors within your life

when you're trying to reach
and achieve your goals

so that means

looking at your emotional well-being

using your financial resources wisely

looking at your social factors

maybe if you are employed

does that occupation affect
your time to set your goals?

looking at your physical factors

looking at things that really just affect you

maybe even your environment

so if you're trying to lose 50 pounds in a year

and your whole household

eats junk food

eats takeout and pizza every night

that's an environmental thing that you want to look at

to see if that's going to help you reach your goals

or if it's not going to help you reach your goals

this is so good

Right?
- Yeah

also another tip

when you're trying to reach goals
and set your goals effectively

is using the SMART method

SMART I've heard of that

Yes!

So

that just means using the acronym SMART

making sure that you're setting concise and

conserving concise goals

that are SPECIFIC to what you're trying to achieve

also making sure that it's something MEASURABLE

Yeah

making sure you're able to track your progress

the other acronym for SMART

which is the "A" is making sure it's ATTAINABLE

Right?

you want to make sure it's something "R" REALISTIC

and that it's in a TIMELY manner gotcha

so Nicaya I have an idea

okay

how about we give the people
 an example of a smart goal

okay I could do that

all right

so let's start with the "S"

let's make it really specific

all right well

one goal that I'm currently working on

is

well

long term I want to become

plant-based

so I want to live on plant

plant-based lifestyle

so short term

that means I want to incorporate

at least five servings of

fruits and vegetables

for at least three times a week

so I'll probably say currently

I'm not getting that full five
recommended serving amount

and so

I would say let's do at least five

fruits and vegetables

for at least three times a week

and I have some ideas on

which veggies I'd like to increase
- okay

so

and Nicaya what about making it long-term?

well long term I plan on becoming

fully plant-based lifestyle

and so

I know it takes some time to

transition into that lifestyle and so

my goal

my short-term goal
would be to start off with three days

and then increase that to five

and then the full week

where every day

I'm being mindful

about getting my full serving
of fruits and vegetables per day

Nice

okay

you got this

I got it
- stay optimistic right?

Yes!

Absolutely!

all right

and then what about the "M"
making it MEASURABLE

one way I think I can make
 this goal measurable

is use my

handy dandy food journal

and plan my

fruits and vegetables
that I like to increase daily

write them down

and then check them

to see if I actually consume
them for that day

Absolutely!

all right

and what about making it Adjustable or Attainable

it's attainable because

I am

able to check-in

I made some action steps

okay so I

wrote a list out of the
fruits and veggies that I really adore

and I checked my kitchen
to see what inventory I already have

and then I created another list

of the groceries that I need to go get

um

and then of course I'm always evaluating that

along with my handy-dandy food journal

Nice

so I see how you use

like the holistic theme of using the

economic resources,

financial resources,

checking what's already in your kitchen,

and your environment.

to help you reach your goal

Nice
- Yes

and you know what Ashley

it helped because

I was able to budget

the right amount of dollars I want to

submit to my fruits and vegetables

you are on a roll

all right

so what about making it REALISTIC using the "R"?

okay

it's realistic because

I am definitely going to lean into my community

who are already living the plant-based

 lifestyle

and it's realistic because

my whole "Why"
for doing this is I want to

live a healthy life

and I know

increasing my fruits and vegetables
 is going to help me do that

Absolutely

and I love how you said too

making it real to you

making it realistic
and knowing your "Why"

absolutely

all right

and what about the "T" making it TIMELY?

Absolutely

My plan Ashely
is to start off with three days a week

and then I'll increase that to five days a week

and then hopefully

by my half-year mark

I'll be at the full

seven-day

full-blown

plant-based

lifestyle here

you got this Nicaya

look at all this optimism within you

Right?
- Yes

Nice

I love it

all right so

now that we've gone through a SMART activity

and you have all your goals
that you have set for you

for reaching your goal for plant-based
within a year

Yeah
- right

one tip that I can give you

to help you reach that goal
is to use visualization

okay, what's that?

Great question

so visualization is just basically
 using your imagination

on the using pictures and imagery

of what goal that you want to achieve

nice

Nice, right?

and it's super simple and super easy to do

so it takes no time

it takes no money

I like that
- Right?

it takes minimal resources

and all you have to do
 is basically picture yourself

cooking a great meal

incorporating greens
 and fruits and vegetables

I could smell the garlic right now
- right? all the spices and the herbs

and this is something that you can take what?

5 seconds 10 seconds to do

before you cook a meal

awesome

now is this something I would do daily?

How often should I incorporate it?

you can do it daily
you can do it multiple times a day

maybe if you want to cook breakfast

you can do it before then

before you go out of bed you're like okay

I'm gonna envision my meal today

right?

or you can do it for lunch

or you can do it for dinner

it just really depends on what works for you

awesome

sounds good, sounds like a plan

but I will say though, consistency is key

yeah

so Nicaya

yeah

now that you have a tip for using a visualization

to help you reach your goals

I want to end us

with some tips to reach your goals overall

right

so one tip can be just to work backwards

think about what you want to achieve

and then plan steps

going backwards to what you can do to stay mindful

another tip is just again to visualize what you want

another tip after that

would be to write it down

and use your smart goals to achieve your goals

use all your resources right?

yeah

another thing to do is reflect on your goals

And it's totally okay to adjust them if you need to

I like that part
- Right

life happens

things happen right?

Another great tip is just
to monitor your optimism

how motivated are you
 staying to reach your goals

and finally

focus on one goal at a time

I know we have a lot of things in our life that we want to achieve and accomplish

but

staying focused and mindful
on one goal at a time is really beneficial

that's so good

well I thank you Ashley
 for helping me walk through

a goal-specific to me

and I'm definitely excited
to apply this to other areas of my life as well

Absolutely

and Nicaya thank you so much
for introducing me to optimism

I'm feeling hopeful and optimistic already

and we thank you for joining us for this segment of

 Be Optimistic: setting your wellness goals

we're so excited for you to join this class

and we welcome you to connect with us

Yes!

connect with us!
You can check us out

on BlueDoorCenterIL.com

and we're also on Facebook

@BlueDoorCenterIL

Thank you and see you soon

See you soon folks

Bye