Every year millions of north Americans make new year's resolutions vowing to change their lives in various ways. Whether that be fitness, business, personal attributes, family, etc.
New Year's Resolutions are a great way to set new goals and to reflect on current goals and how well you are meeting them. I am a big fan of goal setting. I love fresh starts - whether that be January 1st, the first day of a new month, or Mondays. I am probably the only person who loves Mondays just for the fresh start to a new week it gives me!
That being said, it is of no use to set goals if you aren't going to stick to them; or if every fresh start means starting at square one YET AGAIN.
That is probably why so many fitness professionals hate New Year's resolutions.
That is also why I am writing this particular blog! Keep reading to see how you can make this year's resolutions stick!
SMART Goals
First thing's first; in order to be successful, you need to know how to set an effective goal. I personally like to use the SMART goal structure for fitness.
S= Specific:
Your goal must be specific and as detailed as possibe in order to effectively break it down into habits. For example, 'I want to lose weight' VS 'want to lose 30lb'. Yes both are the same goal, but by December 31st, if youve lost 1lb, technically you hit your goal o losing weight. Also, throughout the entire year, knowing you have a specific amount of weight to lose will allow you to track your goal and adjust habits in order to meet that specific goal.
M=Measurable:
Ensuring your goal is measurable will allow you to set and adjust habits in order to meet it. For example 'I want to feel better' VS 'I want more energy'. Feeling better is subjective; it is based on so many variables, how can you know what actions are contributing to feeling good vs bad? Whereas, 'energy' is measurable. 'Sleeping better' is measurable. And both contribute to 'feeling better'.
A=Actionable:
Is the goal codusive to ACTION? What action is attached to the goal? For example, 'I want to sleep better' would entail going to bed earlier, having better sleep hygiene, etc. 'I want to lose 30lb' would entail hitting a specific calorie goal each day and getting in a set amount of activity.
R=Realistic:
How likely are you to hit this goal in a 12 month period? Will you be able to fit this goal into your existing schedule with your existing obligations? Do you have support? Do you know how to put this goal into action or will you need to enlist some help?
There are a lot of things to consider when setting a goal. If you don't take the time to consider these things then you will be setting this exact goal again next year.
T=Time bound:
Setting timelines is what will help you to track where you are at throughout the year. Not only do you want to make sure your goal can realistically be achieved within the year, but you want to break it down into smaller timelines so you can adjust habits as you go to ensure you'll be where you want to be next year.
Breaking Down Goals
Breaking down goals into smaller, easily digestible pieces is key to being successful.
For example, if you want to lose 30lb, youll want to break that down into a weekly goal. So in this example, dividing the amount of weeks in the year by your goal would mean you would be aiming to lose 1.7lb per week - Totally reasonable!
If for example, you decided you needed to lose 60lb, that goal starts to be a bit more lofty. At that point, you may need to realize that you won't meet this goal in one year. Maybe you decide that this is a 2 year goal.
If your goal is strength, then you'll want to set goals for lifts. For example, for overall strength increases, youll want to set a goal for each big lift. What can you lift now? If we were to look at a 20% increase every month, what does that look like? Then multiplying that by 12, where will you be at the end of the year? This also depends on how many times you can lift per week - only twice? Well maybe youll only see an increase every couple of months.
All of this contributes to not only ensuring your goals meet the SMART guideline, but sitting down and calculating this will open your eyes to what these goals actually entail.
I know we all want to see these goals realized as fast as possible, but that is just not realistic. That is half the problem with people not achieving their resolutions.
You Don't Know What You Don't Know
Many people are absolutely sure they know what to do to hit their health and fitness goals but are unaware of the information they do not have.
What do I mean by that? Well, have you found that you can lose a lot of weight on a particular diet, so everytime you need to lose weight you just start up the diet again? On the face of it, you might feel like you know what to do. You've lost weight in the past this way, so therefore you know what needs to be done - you just have to do it again and THIS TIME stick to it. So what is the problem?
YOU CAN'T STICK TO IT. It is not condusive to your life. It is restrictive - which is why you see weight loss - but since you cant stick to it, it doesn't work. If you have to make the same resolution every year because you are in the exact same spot every year - IT ISN'T WORKING.
Could it be that you do not know how to lose weight outside of this diet? Could it be that there is information out there that you are unaware of that could help you keep that weight off?
Fitness professionals exist for a reason. This stuff is HARD. Almost EVERYBODY needs help. And if you don't know what to search for, the internet is really no help.
This leads me to my last point:
Set Yourself Up For Success
It is not a failure or a weakness to ask for help. It is not a failure or a weakness to not have certain foods in your house, or to set alarms to remind you to drink water, or to get a personal trainer. We as a society need to accept that we are more successful as a community. That may look different for everyone, but once you find out what that looks like for you, the sky is the limit!!
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