Lately, I have been in and out of being a bummer lacking motivation feeling like I am in a fog half the time due to no sleep and a few setback in my plans. All I want to do is be in a tropical place with my girlfriends sipping Mai tias guilt free.
I thought for sure I would have gotten my fitness guides and new website up and running by Jan 1. I was all excited at first working hard on this list of items and then, setbacks and time constraints happened- I started getting discouraged. I would put those projects on the back burner trying to muster up the energy to get these things done.
BUT, I had to get these things done because I had announced to my readers I would have fitness guides and a new website by Jan 1 and I didn’t want to disappoint! Several months ago this seemed very doable but family, clients and my own fitness have been a priority.
Trying to DIY and get a new website up with fitness and competition guides right now is like trying to swim through a pool of mini marshmallows. (um yeah, came up with that one due to my marshmallow obsession.. only the mini ones… not jumbo, not peeps, just the mini’s). I am a total beginner with websites but have created my own three times before with homestead.com and my current website on wordpress. And, creating and formatting fitness guides, graphics and converting them is a whole new learning curve. I AM TIRED. boohoo. I really need to hire this stuff out for a bunch of ching or reframe, as I tell my clients… maybe I just need to eat my way out of the pool, not fight it by wading through those puffy sugary delights!
Okay, okay, so eating 1 ton worth of marshmallows isn’t going to look good on the scale the next day, nor will it on my ars. So, I will accept the fact that my list of awesomeness will be delayed, I need to set up a better plan and stick to it with bench marks along the way and just plain lay my head back on these billowy treats every once in a while and just take a breath!
It’s like people starting new fitness resolutions in the new year, all gung hoe, running from the edge of the yard as fast as possible onto the diving board and jumping full throttle, head first into the pool of cardio equipment, dumbbells and gym rats (or in my case, marshmallows, a much better landing I’d say) only to find themselves 2, 3, or 4 weeks later trying to wade through all that equipment feeling bogged down, motivation lacking and finally when they reach the edge of the the gym rat infested pool, they hop out and give up, especially when no one is there to push them back in (rather, coax them back in reminding them why they dove in in the first place …)
Professor Richard Wiseman, a British psychologist, followed 3,000 people and tracked how well they stuck to new years resolutions. He found that a whopping 12% met their new years goals and the rest failed to do so. Where did these people go wrong? Why did 88% fail to keep their resolutions? It seems that vague goals and lack of accountability were the biggest issues. Relying on sheer will power was the biggest mistake.
Wiseman found that men were more likely to adhere to their goals when they focused on a measure of success like looking more attractive to woman as opposed to a goal of trying to lose a pound a week. According to Prof Wiseman,”Men may be more likely to adopt a macho attitude and have unrealistic expectations, so simple goal setting helps them achieve more.”
Women were more likely to stick to their goals when they have accountability partners and told their supportive friends and family of their resolutions. When women had people around to tell them not give up and remind them of their goals, they would be more likely to succeed. “…women might be reluctant to tell others about their resolutions, and so benefit more from the social support provided by friends and family once they have made their goals public” said Prof Wiseman.
So here are some tips to keep that new years resolution this year and not feel like you are wading through a sea of marshmallows only to give up and starting eating them!
1) Stick to 1 resolution. Too many can seem like a daunting task. If you funnel your energy into one, you will be more likely to succeed.
2) Plan ahead. Don’t make your resolution Jan 1st. Set your goal in December and focus on the process to meet that goal so you will be good and ready to get started.
3) “Put your behind in the past” as pmuba would say. Leave old resolutions in the past and create a new one with a new plan. Focusing on old, failed resolutions can only cause that disappointment and discouragement to bubble up and resurface.
4) Do you. Don’t make the same resolution as everyone else. Focus on what you really want out of life. Focus on how you can achieve that goal and the steps you need to take to get there.
5) Break it down. Once you have your big picture goal, plan the process. Set up a series of steps and sub goals. Make these steps small, doable, measurable, concrete and put them on an achievable timeline of dates. Write it down! Look it everyday.
6) Get an accountability partner(s). Tell your friends and family. This creates a support group and a fear of failure. But, don’t be afraid to fail, it will happen. Nobody is perfect. We all fall off our horse a time or two. Some more than others but your friends and family can help you get back up again and riding off into the sunset!
7) Read your resolution everyday. Remind yourself regularly of the benefits to achieving your goal. Make checklists of benchmarks. It feels good to put a check mark on goals you have crushed!
8) Celebrate every step. Reward yourself and celebrate whenever you succeed at a benchmark. If your goal is weight loss, steer clear of food rewards like binging on a cake. Instead, get a pedicure or a facial to pamper yourself.
9) Write it down. Keep a journal, a spread sheet, whatever of your goals, your achievements and even set backs. This can help you asses weaknesses and keep you on track. You can even make graphs of progress you have tracked.
10) Failure will happen. How you handle it will determine success. Expect to fall off the horse here and there. Just know it is a temporary set back. It happens to everyone! It’s those than dust off and keep on going that succeed!
1 Comment
Leave your reply.