By Monica Le Baron

When setting wellness goals, the clients I work with often overestimate what they can accomplish in an hour and underestimate what they can achieve in a year. They drive themselves bananas with unrealistic timelines and high expectations—leading to burnout, frustration, and eventually giving up on goal-setting altogether.

When that happens, people stop taking the time to plan for the future or clarify their wellness priorities. Imagine doing the same on a road trip: You wake up, get in the car, and start driving. You don’t know where you’re going, and you don’t stop for gas or bathroom breaks. Eventually, you run out of fuel, motivation, and energy. Burnout becomes inevitable.

As an IAYT-certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) and sleep coach, I stopped setting New Year’s resolutions because they didn’t feel aligned with me—until I started practicing the approach I’m sharing with you today. Every 90 days, I evaluate and adapt my goals. This doesn’t have to be a complicated procedure; you just need to start where you are, trust your process, and set a sankalpa (intention) that resonates in the moment. This approach is how I mindfully create realistic, heart-centered goals that honor rest, movement, and self-compassion.

6 simple, powerful steps to get you started

C-IAYT Monica Le Baron

1. Get crystal clear

Start by journaling and taking time to clarify your priorities. Ask yourself: What do I want to attract? What do I want to accomplish health-wise? How do I want to feel this year? This step is crucial for getting the results you want. Be honest with yourself and with your sankalpa—the intention behind setting this goal. Don’t choose a goal to impress someone else or because your best friend picked something similar. Your priorities must resonate with you.

Once you envision your goal, choose a word (or two) that will serve as a simple reminder of your wellness intention. In 2025, my word was serenity. I knew it was time to double down on my wellness goals and finally shed those last 3 pounds I’d been unable to lose, but I wanted the process to feel aligned and serene, not stressful. I wrote this word in places where I’d often see it: “Serenity” on my mirror, journal, and phone screen. Each time I caught sight of my word, it reminded me of both my goal and the feeling I wanted to embody. And yes, you can change your word later if needed!

2. Treat the past as a teacher

Now that you’ve chosen your word and clarified your priorities, it’s time to reflect on your past attempts. Ask yourself: Have I tried to accomplish this wellness goal before? If so, how did it go? What worked? What got in the way? Use this data—positive and negative—to create a plan that actually supports you.

Think of this goal as a flexible ahimsa (nonviolence) plan: a plan rooted in care toward yourself, one that allows you to release pressure rather than pile it on.

For example, if you want to add a yoga practice or a morning walking routine but tend to fall off track year after year, ask yourself what you really need this time. Maybe joining a yoga studio and paying for 3 months in advance will keep you committed. Maybe asking a friend to be your walking buddy will help. The point is that now you have information you can use to plan, adapt, and move forward with clarity.

3. Create a 90-day plan

I like planning in 90-day cycles instead of 365 because 90 days is long enough to get results and short enough to prevent procrastination. Create a plan that feels good for you and focuses on actions that move the needle—the things you can actually control.

When I set my goal to lose 3 pounds, I was already doing a lot: seeing a nutritionist, working out daily, sleeping well, drinking water, etc. My new 90-day plan included what had worked in the past, plus new strategic steps, such as getting epigenetic and hormonal testing to see whether my body was reacting poorly to certain foods or needed additional vitamins.

After the tests, I completely changed my diet. Some foods I thought were healthy weren’t benefiting me personally at all. I created a plan around my new dietary needs and added weight training to my routine. I started with 15-minute sessions and eventually worked up to 30 minutes. Now that my lifestyle and priorities have changed, I’m adapting again to what my body needs in this moment.

Image by Matej on Pexels

4. Lay out your celebration

In my private yoga therapy practice, I always ask clients to get specific about how they want to feel, what they want to accomplish, and how they will celebrate once they do. This combination is key to long-term success, and you’d be amazed by the look on people’s faces when I ask them to plan their celebration. Most don’t know where to start, and many struggle to spend time or money on themselves. But little by little, this step becomes their anchor. It helps them stay motivated when things get hard and keeps them connected to their “why.”

Your celebration doesn’t have to be expensive unless you want it to be. Choose something that brings you joy: buying yourself flowers, getting a massage, or treating yourself to a new pair of walking shoes. Decide now how you’ll celebrate after putting in the work to honor your wellness goals. And remember: It’s okay if you didn’t hit the exact outcome, as long as you showed up for yourself. We can’t control results—we can only control our actions.

5. Evaluate and polish your plan

Most people set goals and keep moving without pausing to evaluate what’s working and what’s not. Evaluation is essential.

In my case, the first month felt easy because I was excited and seeing results: my inflammation went down, I felt more energized, and I was excited to try new recipes. But then I started losing motivation, food made me nauseous, and I grew tired of my routine. So I took a break, remembered my intention, and polished my plan to reduce anxiety and bring more serenity back into the process.

Think of this step like creating your unique wellness recipe and adapt the ingredients, amounts, and timing to your needs.

6. Trust and surrender

I love the saying, “You plan, God laughs.” There is always a bigger purpose unfolding, even when it doesn’t match our timelines. Let this be your reminder to allow yourself to be guided by the universe or your higher power.

In yoga philosophy, aparigraha (nonattachment) teaches us to let go of expectations about how our lives should look. The same applies here: Let your goals unfold with flexibility and trust. What matters most is maintaining a mindful, heart-centered approach that honors rest, movement, compassion, and your ever-changing needs.

It’s truly impressive to see the results clients experience simply by getting started and setting a clear intention. Energy shifts, happy hormones flow, and life begins to improve in beautiful, unexpected ways.

Keep the momentum going

These steps have supported me and the clients with whom I work again and again, and I hope they bring clarity and calm to your wellness journey, too. Start small, stay honest, trust your heart, and let this year be the one where you choose yourself with tenderness and grace.

To keep the momentum going, I picked a few posts I think you will enjoy. You can always come back to this post for inspiration and to polish your wellness goals, too!

• Experience therapeutic yoga with a 20- to 30-minute practice
• Health comes full circle: Yoga therapy is whole-person care
• Gratitude is a teacher
• Stress less, the yoga therapy way
• Increasing self-awareness—and healing—through panchamaya kosha
• How yoga therapists work: Practicing nonattachment through a 1,000-year storm

Monica Le Baron, MBA, C-IAYT, is a sleep expert and bestselling author of Sleep Simplified: Simple Tools to Reduce Anxiety, Finish the Stress Cycle, and Sleep Like a Queen. She helps clients with sleep disorders get a good night’s rest in 30 days or less and offers speaking engagements and corporate trainings on sleep, stress reduction, mindfulness, and pain management.