2012 is History and 2013 is about to arrive.
May your festivities be filled with joy and fun.
And whatever you do, stay safe.
If you have given up on New Year's resolutions, this one is for you. If you have developed a negative attitude towards New Year's resolutions this one is for you too. Whether this is a result of your own failure to stick with the program or whether it is out of annoyance for the increased traffic of new year's resolution's at the gym who only last till February and you are tired of watching all of them slack off as soon as life happens this one is for you.
I want to talk about sustainable effort, whether it be nutritional or fitness related, our intentions alone do not make us succeed. If that were true then we would not need new year's resolutions at all. It is the very fact that we fail and deep down in our hearts want to "give it another try" that we deem the first day of a brand new year that chance to start again. There is nothing wrong with that, but what can we do to ensure the best chance of success this year?
5 Tips for the NEW YEAR
- Choose something that you NEED, not WANT.
You may
want a supermodel body and a swimsuit ready midsection by spring, but is that really what you NEED?
- Choose sustainable goals, realistic ones will make it past the initial motivation into the habitual stage.
If you have never run in your entire life don't think you will run a 5km within 4 weeks, it is just not a realistic goal. At the same time, don't underestimate yourself. If you are afraid of 10 pound dumbbells let me just tell you, you CAN life heavier weights than you think, particularly if you are a woman. (I have it on good authority that men tend to OVER estimate how much weight they can lift...wonder why that is? It was a MAN, (Igor Klibanov from
Fitness Solutions Plus) who told me this!) Motivation to start will get you so far, but if you have chosen an unrealistic goal, chances are you will become discouraged and give up. On the other hand if you are progressing well you will be motivated to carry on, even when you have to bring in some self discipline to keep it going.
- Don't underestimate the power of HABIT.
Once you start with your goal, it only takes a few weeks before it has become a habit and the effort needed to "just do it" is reduced substantially. Remember the thought of doing something uncomfortable or unpleasant is ALWAYS worse than the actual event. So don't let FEAR stop you from forming good habits this year that will carry you through more than just the "New Year's Resolution" stage
- Pick yourself us, dust yourself off and start again
Your journey is not going to be perfect, so get over the idea that you will have 100 % success. There will be days where life happens, or you feel under the weather or unforeseen circumstances get in the way of your goals. Take a deep breath, keep a positive attitude and start again the next day. Just because you slipped up once, or something prevented you from fulfilling your goal ONCE or twice, does NOT mean you must throw in the towel and give up. Look at how far you have come! Further than if you had not have started at all, so take life as it comes, do the best you can and if you stumble, just get back up and start again! Each day is a new day, take that gift for what it is and don't dwell on past failures. Just don't give up, you deserve to give yourself the best chance, not the perfect chance, just the best you can give.
- Be ACCOUNTABLE to someone.
If you want to increase your chances of success, find someone who will walk/run/swim or whatever with you. Whether it is someone you call on the phone, or have as an online support, you need someone who you can be accountable to. I know that in the past
30 Day Challenges, some days the only thing that got participants through was the thought of having to admit that they DID NOT DO what they had committed to do, so they pushed themselves to get their goal accomplished. Who wants to admit defeat? If you have someone alongside you, you can support and encourage one another and motivate one another when you need it. There is nothing like some healthy competition between friends.
ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR 2013, May your choices, one by one, bring you closer to being good to yourself, loving others better and fulfilling your dreams.
Best Wishes,
Melony Teague
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