A guide to setting mental wellbeing goals

Understand who your support group is – the people who can cheer you on as you make progress on your goals, and back you up if things feel challenging. Your support group could be made up of your whānau, friends, or partner, for example. 

Your support group might look the same no matter what goal you are aiming towards, or it might change depending on the goal you are trying to achieve. For example, your support group might include a friend who can speak te reo, if you are aiming to learn te reo Māori. 

What went well for you last year, and which aspects of your life would you like to strengthen? Reflecting on how the past year has gone can be a brilliant source of ideas for goals to try. 

To nurture your holistic wellbeing, you might draw inspiration from Te Whare Tapa Whā. Te Whare Tapa Whā is a health model designed by Sir Mason Durie that considers all the different aspects of our wellbeing – our physical wellbeing, or taha tinana; our mental and emotional wellbeing, or taha hinengaro; our spiritual wellbeing, or taha wairua; and the wellbeing of our family, or taha whānau. 

To achieve good wellbeing or mauri ora, each of these aspects need to be given attention in our lives. Which aspects of Te Whare Tapa Whā are strong for you, and which aspects could you build on during the year?

When setting goals, make sure you’re being realistic and kind to yourself about how much you can achieve. Do you have enough time for your goal or goals this year? 

Think about setting a maximum of three goals for the year so you can really put your energy into them. Or, you could set goals in smaller chunks – set one goal one month, and decide the following month whether you’d like to continue with the goal, discard it, or take on something new. 

When it comes to our wellbeing, making small, but sustainable, changes can have the biggest impact over time – changes like practicing one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing each week.

When setting your goals, consider how working towards one goal might help achieve another. For example, if your goals are to strengthen your taha tinana/physical wellbeing and taha whānau/whānau wellbeing, you could achieve both by going for a walk with your whānau once a week.  

Combining your goals can help make the most of your time, and reduce any pressure you may feel around achieving them.  

Remember to have fun with your goals!  If your goals are causing you stress or manawa pā/anxious thoughts and feelings, it’s absolutely understandable to discard any goals you have made. 

Goals that bring us joy may also be easier to achieve. It can feel like an uphill battle to perform a task we dread doing, but if we inject some fun into it, it can turn into something exciting! For example, if you have a goal to move your body, but don’t like hitting the gym you could swim in the sea, join a sports club, or find a dance class instead. Finding joy in your goals might also mean bringing in your loved ones to help you, or rewarding yourself when you hit goal milestones. 

Setting goals can be exciting and give us a sense of purpose, but it’s equally as important to put our wellbeing first if we need to.  

Regardless of whether you’ve decided to set a goal this year or not, know that it was the right decision for you.