New Year’s Resolutions
So, here we are again at the start of a new year. Many of us will be making the same resolution we’ve been making for years, or possibly decades: that this year, you’ll really get into shape.
If this is a resolution that topped your list yet again in 2012, ask yourself this: if I really want to achieve this goal, what am I going to do differently this year?
If you have repeatedly made it a goal each January 1st to lose weight and get back into shape, why haven’t you ever been able to achieve it? This year, right now, grab a pen and paper and try to identify where you’ve gone wrong in the past.
Unless you identify what’s prevented you from reaching this goal in the past, you’ll continue to make the same mistakes this year and continue to fail at reaching your goal.
Here’s a check list of some things to ask yourself:
- Is my goal realistic?
If your goal reads something like “I will not eat anything fattening or delicious ever again until I lose the weight and I will work out two hours every night’, then you’ve got a big problem: you’ve lost your grip on reality! No one’s will-power can withstand the thought of never eating anything delicious ever again until you’ve reached your goal. By even having that thought, you’ve immediately activated your brain’s deprivation instinct, and you’ll compulsively reach for all the stuff you love because your mind is convinced you won’t have it again for a very long time.
Try to keep in touch with reality and make realistic goals. Aim for something like healthy meals with one or two small things a day that you really enjoy eating–this way, you won’t feel deprived.
- Is my goal healthy?
Make sure that your diet and fitness program is a healthy one, designed to nourish and strengthen your body, mind and spirit rather than breaking it down.
Avoid horrible starvation diets based on shame and deprivation. Base your fitness goals around an activity you really enjoy or feel stimulated by.
For a healthy good plan, a good start it so consider what healthy items you can add to your current meals, rather than focussing only one what to take out.
For example, instead of banishing bread from your diet, consider adding brown rice or more beans or legumes. Chances are you’ll end up eating less bread anyway if you add these items, but you’ll be nourishing your body instead of depriving it.
- At what point in the past have I given up and stopped trying to reach my goals?
This one is the kicker. Look back over your life. Maybe you’ve started out strong, then given up when you haven’t seen results as quickly as you’d like. Maybe you deprive yourself so much that you end up binge-eating, then giving up because you feel you’ve ‘ruined’ your diet.
Whatever it is that’s prevented you from reaching your goals in the past, try to identify it and make a different plan of attack to avoid the same pitfall as before.
The most important thing to remember is this: if what you did in the past has repeatedly not worked for you, chances are VERY slim (no pun intended) that it will work for you now.
This doesn’t mean you should give up and face a life of fatness or unhealthiness. It just means you need to try something different. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
I don’t know about you, but in my pre-success life, I was the Queen of Insanity. I thought by just adding more will-power to my old plan of attack, I would be able to reach my goals. Problem is, each time I failed, I seemed to lose more and more resolve, hope, and belief in myself.
So in 2012, I wish you all the best. I wish you the ability to let go of your old ways of thinking and start out again. Let 2012 be the year you drop everything that’s never worked before and start focussing on a program that will work for you. Base your program on reality, healthy goals, and a new attitude.
Here’s a quick
