2017 is just around the corner and it's that time of year again when people start thinking of their New Year's Resolutions. Losing weight continues to rank as the #1 resolution and it also continues to be the resolution that people fail to accomplish 80% of the time.
This year toss those resolutions out the window and challenge yourself to come up with New Year's Solutions instead. If your not living a healthy lifestyle, it's about time you ask yourself why? What obstacles are in your way? Why is it so difficult for you to stick with it? Why do you give up? What keeps you from staying motivated? Are you being realistic with yourself?
It's important to
determine what's preventing you from succeeding. You don't know what to do, you don't like working out, you don't have time, you don't know what to eat and/or how much to eat, you're not sure whether you should do more cardio or more strength training or a combo of both, you won't do it unless you have some type of accountability, you're not sure how or where to fit it into your daily schedule, you don't like working out alone. List all your obstacles on a piece of paper and number them according to difficulty, one being the most difficult.
Now take that list and focus on the top three to five only. When you try to do too much at once, failure is almost surely to be imminent. You have a whole year ahead of you, 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days...surely you can come up with solutions to successfully conquer those obstacles that have been holding you back year after year.
Start with your number one obstacle and then list 3-5 solutions to overcome that obstacle. Be creative. Now do that same thing with the remaining obstacles. You may find some overlap...great, that's not a problem because you may be able to conquer two obstacles at one time.
Again, start with your number one obstacle and your list of solutions. Again, number them in order of the most probability with success, pick one or two and then and make a plan to make it happen. Determine what actions you need to take or tools you need to ensure your solutions are successful.
For example if your number one obstacle is - I don't have time to workout. Hopefully your solutions look something like this:
- Grab your planner and identify down times where you can fit it in
- Wake up earlier
- Break you workouts up into 10-15 minute increments (once in the morning, once at lunchtime and once after work)
- Workout at lunchtime
- Propose walking meetings; instead of sitting in a conference room for a half hour, walk it out while you talk it out
Once you identify one or two solutions that are realistic for your lifestyle and attainable, set a time frame for completion and once you see it through to fruition, move on to the next obstacle/solution plan.
Give it a try and see what you can do when you create solutions instead of resolutions. What have you got to lose? Oh yeah, maybe that extra weight once and for all!
Happy New Year - Happy New You!