New Year’s Resolutions

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Every year, New Year’s resolutions fail by a whopping 80%. The most obvious one is the weight loss resolution. Think about it. Gyms are absolutely packed from January 2^nd with all the resolution people. And then by the end of February, they’re all gone. The same holds true for any other goal you might have. Quitting a bad habit or adopting a healthy one.

But why do New Year’s resolutions fail more often than not?

The primary reason is that people dive in without a solid plan. A plan is like your roadmap. It’s one thing to say that you’re going to lose X number of pounds or adopt a new healthy habit. That’s great! Both are lofty goals. But how are you going to get there? If you don’t have a solid plan, you could end up wasting a lot of time and energy going around in circles and reaching dead ends. And before you know it, you give up altogether and quit.

So how do you improve your chances this year?

1. Change your mindset. Up until now, your mind has been operating under the impression that you’ll quit sooner rather than later. If you’re trying to reach a goal or create new habits, you have to shift that thinking. You’re in it for the long haul. It’s about making lifestyle changes. For some of us, fitting in time for the gym or meal prepping, for example, means adjusting schedules or possibly even eliminating non-productive activities (like scrolling through social media). For others, it might mean waking up a bit earlier to sneak in 30 minutes for a workout. Whatever the case may be for you, make the determination that this is not just a fly by night thing. It’s not so much something you WANT to do but something you’re GOING to do. AND it’s going to be a lifestyle habit, not a temporary fling.
2. Have a solid plan. Without a plan as a roadmap, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle. While every worthwhile goal is not without its struggles, having a plan helps you to avoid the feelings of overwhelm and hopelessness that often lead to quitting. First of all, how will you do it? Will you find a trainer or coach? Will you join a gym or subscribe to a program you can do at home? How will you manage your daily eating habits? Next, start with the end goal in mind. Let’s say you’ll have reached it by this time next year. Give yourself quarterly benchmarks (March, June, October, December). What milestone will you have accomplished at each of these times. You can even narrow it down to monthly. And lastly,how will you reach each of these goals? Do a 30-minute cardio session each morning or hit the gym X number of days per week? Meal prep every Sunday so your weeks’ worth of meals are covered? Increase your water intake by X number of ounces every day or get more sleep? Be specific and hold yourself to it. That way, by the next New Year’s resolution, you’ll be ready for something bigger and better.

   

3. Stop making excuses. As humans, we spout off excuses without really thinking about it. We don’t even realize that we’re doing it. But one thing is certain…the more excuses you make, the farther away your goals become. Start learning to spot every time you make an excuse and realize it for what it is. The sooner you stop relying on excuses to avoid doing what you should, the sooner you can start making some progress in reaching your goals. You can have your excuses or you can have results. It’s one or the other. Never both.
4. Avoid trading. Oops! Didn’t get your cardio time in today because you wanted to sleep in? So, you’ll just add today’s 30 minutes to tomorrow’s 30 minutes, right? That rarely ever pans out. Trading or making exchanges like that is giving yourself wiggle room. But the question is, are you trying reach your New Year’s resolution or not? Are you making lifestyle changes, or aren’t you? If you decide to do this entirely on your own (without a trainer), you have to become your own trainer. Set a schedule and stick to it. If you’re serious about reaching this goal, you’ll treat it seriously. For some trainers, if you don’t show up, they still charge you for their time. If you flake on yourself one day, instead of paying a trainer because you didn’t show up, equate the penalty to something else that makes you say, OUCH. No cheat meal that week, perhaps? Cheat meals for me are a reward for a week of hard work.
5. Accept that mistakes will be made and vow to learn from them. While #3 and #4 sound very serious (and they should), you must also realize that you are human. You are bound to slip up from time to time. This is not just sticking to your new schedule or whatever the case may be with your new habits, but also in the work you produce. If you’re learning something new, you’re probably going to hate how hard and awkward it is in the beginning. But give yourself the luxury of making mistakes. Mistakes are your best teachers. Learn from them and apply what you learned to the next attempt. No big deal. Learn to appreciate your mistakes for what they will teach you as opposed to viewing it with a self-deprecating attitude from which you learn absolutely nothing.

Big or small, New Year’s resolutions are not impossible to reach and you don’t have to be a statistic on the failing side. If your goal is bigger, don’t knock yourself down for not finishing it within a year. If you managed to stay on track throughout the year, making slow but steady progress, count that as a win! Even if your goal was to do a 100 pounds and you “only” managed 52, realize that’s still pretty amazing! A pound a week is nothing to sneeze at! And realize that you’ll have accomplished much more than if you had not had a resolution with a plan in the first place, right?  Be proud of what you accomplish. Learn from this coming years’ experience and apply it to the next resolution.