For many people, the new year is a time of goal setting and resolutions. Statistically speaking, many people won’t achieve those goals. However, I still believe that if the goal setting motivated you to do just a little bit to improve your health, even if only for a short while, it is still a positive thing. The question is, how can you maximize your motivation to make changes in the new year and reach the goals you have in mind?
Stay process oriented
To most people, setting goals and trying to achieve them is the logical way to make changes in their life that they wish to see. If this method is so effective, then why do most people fail at reaching their New Year health goals and give up within 60 days? While setting goals is an extremely important part of creating change, my advice to you is stay in the process. Focus on it, let the habits become a part of you. When you reach a goal that you had set out to reach, think of it as nothing more than passing a mile marker on the highway. If you drive at 65MPH you know you will get there and can even determine when you will arrive at that point, but the mile marker isn’t your destination, you are in the process. By staying process oriented you will not stop when you drop (or gain) that ten pounds, but instead you will set new goals to pass along the way. I think being too goal oriented is one of the reasons people tend to yo-yo up and down with their weight and health in general.
Talk is Cheap
Attempt not to tell everyone about your New Years resolution. People often tell others abut their plans as an accountability tool, if you tell everyone what you’re going to accomplish, then you have that added layer of accountability, right? It very rarely works that way, keeping your goals to yourself and walking the walk will remove any mental baggage, the stuff that can often times cause us to give up way too quickly. You cannot change for anyone else, and must do this for you and you alone. I prefer not to tell even people close to me what I am setting out to achieve. The day I find myself unable to fit in my scheduled workout, or have that cheat food that I was trying to avoid, the last thing I want to hear is commentary on my perceived failure. Even if it is given with the best intentions, it almost always causes a recoil effect that clouds my vision and separates me from the very things that motivated me to begin with. Instead, get in the process and let your results speak for themselves.
It’s not an open wound
You don’t need to apply pressure. If you pressure yourself, you will eventually resent the process. You must learn to enjoy your journey and let the mile markers go by as they do. Allow your habits to be effortless efforts that come from inspiration and enjoyment, not guilt or self doubt. Ditch the attitude that you need to kill yourself to see a goal, and train your body because you love it, not because you hate it!
Consistency is the key to staying healthy and enjoying life to the fullest because you have the vitality to do so. Let your goal be December, staying in the process until the end of the year, regardless of how many milestones you pass along the way. I like to train extremely hard in the first half of December and then take a couple of weeks off to be with my family and maybe even enjoy some Christmas treats without the guilt. If you want to use the New Year as a chance to self reflect and gain new perspective to help you continue to grow, then so much the better.
Happy New Year!
Peter Hirsh
