6 Best Ways to Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution
Rather than discovering the things you shouldn’t do while pursuing your New Year’s Resolution, discover the 6 things that are absolutely essential to fitness success.
At about this same time last year, I filled you in on the Top 6 New Year’s Resolution Mistakes. These mistakes included not quantifying your goals, not setting dates or benchmarks, setting too many goals, not tracking or logging, not sharing, and not expecting setbacks. Check out that episode for more detail on each of these mistakes that keep you from achieving your fitness goals.
But this year, let’s focus on the positive, shall we? Rather than discovering the things you shouldn’t do while pursuing your New Year’s resolution, let’s discover the 6 things that are, in my opinion, absolutely essential for success:
Tip #1: Journaling
Journaling is a newfound joy of mine. I wake up every morning, roll over in bed, and open my journal, which is called a “Five-Minute Journal.” I read one inspiring quote, then give 3 answers to the following question: “What Would Make Today Great?” Finally, I write my daily affirmation – which for me right now is this: “I am inspiring, a joy to be around, and a patient teacher.” Later, in the evening, I re-open the journal and answer the following questions “What 3 Amazing Things Happened Today?” and “How Could You Have Made Today Better?”
It may sounds silly, airy-fairy, or woo-woo, but this morning practice has kept me laser-focused on my goals and on what I want to accomplish each day. My only regret is not beginning a daily journaling practice earlier in life!
Tip #2: Planning
Unless you write down your plan for achieving your resolution, it’s simply not going to happen. I personally use a software called Evernote to write down my calendar for each day of the week, and to keep track of what I want to do every day. For example, during a typical New Year’s “cleansing” type of program, you’ll want to write down your daily protocol (e.g. waking up and tracking heart rate, weight and body fat, taking specific cleansing supplements, drinking a green smoothie, doing deep breathing exercises, etc.) and also your protocol for each specific day (e.g. Monday is yoga and foam rolling, Tuesday is body weight exercises and a long morning walk, etc.).
Of course, you don’t have to use Evernote. You can use a giant wall calendar, a phone app, Google Calendar, or anything else that works for you. But the key is that you must write down exactly what you want to accomplish for each day, preferably for both diet and exercise.
Tip #3: Sharing
If you go on your Facebook page or the Get-Fit Guy Facebook page, or start a blog or a Twitter account, you can tell others about your New Year’s resolution, your exercise goals, your milestones, and your achievements. Social accountability, and the ability to brag to others, are both great ways to get externally motivated to exercise.
When you share, you may even find that you’re able to hook up with a workout partner who can keep you from sleeping through a workout or skipping the day’s plan. After all, there’s nothing like knowing a friend is tapping their feet waiting for you to show up for a 6am run. If you have trouble roping a friend into your fitness plans, check at your local gym for fitness groups or exercise clubs, like Masters swim classes, triathlon training groups, or circuit training groups. These are all great ways to share your goals and share the experience of achieving your resolution.
Of course, one tiny caveat: there is some research to suggest that the act of telling others about your goals can give you just as much pleasure as achieving the goal itself – so don’t be that person who makes an announcement to the world, then disappears. Ensure that you maintain a public accountability by posting weekly or monthly progress updates.
Tip #4: Consistency
When you first start an exercise or nutrition plan, it’s easy to go gung-ho and all-out, with 2 hour marathon-esque workouts and a strict diet plan that leaves you chewing away the flesh on the inside of your cheeks each night.
Bad move!
Modern Manners Guy talks about this very thing in his excellent new episode New Year’s Resolution Revolution.
Instead of committing to a ton of change, start small, with a plan that you know you can consistently achieve. For example, I have clients who have simply exercised for 10 minutes a day for this entire past year. Compared to the clients who committed to exercising 1 or 2 hours per day, these 10 minute folks have had much less stress, been able to exercise more consistently, and achieved better results.
Similarly, rather than cutting 1,000 calories per day every day of the week, try simply cutting out one snack or one cheat food – such as leaving out the bread roll at lunch, only eating half the dark chocolate bar at night, or switching to a slightly smaller wine glass.
Tip #5: Specificity
Despite the catchy title of this episode, “getting fit” is usually not a specific enough goal to keep you on track. Instead, you need to create goals that have very specific, identifiable outcomes. Some of my favorites are:
-
Lose 20 pounds of fat within 3 months.
-
Complete a 5K this July.
-
Put on 5 pounds of muscle in the first 2 months of this year.
-
Learn to play tennis by taking 2 tennis lessons per week for the next 3 months.
-
Learn and try out 5 new juicing and smoothie recipes over the next 5 weeks.
You get the idea! The more specific you can be, the more measurable and identifiable your goals and outcomes will be, and the more laser-like attention you’ll be able to focus on your goal.
Tip #6: Timing
Your goal must have an end date. I admit, this is a big weakness of mine: setting a goal to “gain muscle,” “lose fat,” or “do a triathlon” but not actually having a specific date or deadline in mind. But New Year’s resolutions, or any goals for that matter, are not much different than work or school projects – if there’s not a deadline or timeline, you’re more likely to either procrastinate or be a bit foggy about exactly what you want to achieve and when.
For this reason, I always have my best fitness gains when I’m signed up for specific events. For example, I’m currently preparing my body for a Super Spartan race in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 14. I’ve never done a Spartan race before, but I’ve certainly gotten more motivation to squeeze in some extra rope climbing, kettlebell swinging, and burpees between now and April.
Perhaps it’s due to the risk of embarrassing myself by not performing well, but I simply wouldn’t have this same motivation if my goal was to “do 100 burpees by this April”. Signing up for an event – whether a 5K, triathlon, bike race, obstacle race, or tennis tournament is a great way to light a raging fire under your motivation to complete a goal or resolution.
That’s it! Journal, plan, share, be consistent, be specific, and add a deadline, and your chances of success will skyrocket.
If you have more questions about these 6 ways to achieve your New Year’s Resolution, then leave them over at Facebook GetFitGuy
New year, new you and workout partners images courtesy of Shutterstock.
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.
