New Years Resolutions: How I Go About Goal Setting

photo credit: David.R.Carroll

New Years Resolutions

It’s that time of year again. People are jumping back onto the health and fitness bandwagon. Gym membership sales always sky rocket around this time of year. The gym is so packed during the months of January and February that it’s nearly impossible to workout during certain times of the day.

I am writing today because I want to emphasize how important goal setting is when getting into better shape. I constantly hear the chatter around me about getting in shape once the new year rolls around and how this is going to be THE year they fully commit to their new years resolution(s). While their intentions are great, they are usually short lived. People forget that it actually requires a great deal of effort to lose that extra 20 lbs or to reach the point where they can run a mile without ceasing. After February most of the new comers flake out and I would venture to say that less than 10% of the new people ever stay past the first few months.

Why?

I always ask myself Why. Why do so many people quickly give up on their goals? There are many reasons I suppose. One being they get burned out very quickly. The changes they make are clearly not sustainable. Therefore it is much easier to regress to old habits and forget about their New Years Resolution. There is always next year right? As the saying goes, tomorrow never comes. There is always Tomorrow, but Today is all we really have control of.

Here are a few tips that I personally use, and I believe they will assist you in sticking to your New Years Resolutions.

Set Specific Goals

- Specific goals are tasks in which you can measure progress. The reason I say to make them specific is because you must have a target. How will you know if you have reached your goals if you don’t know where you are going? Here are a few examples of specific goals:

• Bench press 315 for 5 reps.
• Run a mile in under 6 minutes.
• Lose enough body fat to see your six pack.

Here are a few bad examples of not-so-specific goals:

• Get strong – (how do you define strong?)
• Get in better shape – (when will you know you are in better shape?)
• Maintain a healthy diet – (what foods do you consider healthy?)

These goals are not so good, because it’s going to be really hard to measure the results.

Write Your Goals Down

- If you do not write your goals down, you might as well not even have goals. Writing down your goals on paper begins the process of accomplishment. Writing your goals down will be the very first step in achieving your goals.

Develop A Plan

- Write out exactly how you will go about achieving the new squat record, or running that 5k. Set up a plan of action that you can use to chart your progress. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to reach each individual goal. Also make sure the plan itself is practical and doable. No need to set up something that is just not possible.

Ease Into The New Routine

- Don’t be so quick to make drastic changes. Give yourself some time to adjust. People tend to quit within a few weeks of starting a new regimen because after they learn they cant keep it up, they feel like a failure. Quitting becomes easy at this point. Start small and slowly increase activity every week. Remember to have fun and enjoy developing these new habits.

Establish Some Accountability

- Lets face it, reaching your goals is going to be much easier when you have others to hold you to it. Ask some of your close friends to keep up with your new workout routine to make sure you stick with it. As some of those friends to work out with you a few times a week. It also may help to write out your workouts at the beginning of the week and then check them off as you complete each one. A simple checklist can go a long way in terms of adherence to a new workout plan.

Don’t Fret About the Small Stuff

- Remember to be flexible and anticipate minor setbacks. When I say setbacks I mean that there are going to be times when you can’t fit a workout in. There will be times when you get sick or have other obligations to tend do. This is OK and is a part of normal life. Just be sure to resume your schedule as soon as you can. As far as diet goes, make sure to remain flexible in this regard as well. It’s not going to kill you if you go off of your diet now and then. Sometimes in life we have parties, gatherings, business luncheons, etc to tend to. The food at these events are not always going to be the top picks on your list of healthy foods. Just remember that 1-2 “free” meals a week are not going to hurt your progress. It’s important to maintain this level of flexibility to retain most of your sanity when making serious dietary and lifestyle changes.

What are YOUR New Years Resolutions?