What’s the point in setting New Year’s resolutions?

I’m actually being serious when I ask that question.....what’s the point behind your New Year’s resolutions? Have you ever actually stopped and took time to think about this? If you’re reading this article I bet there is a great chance that one of your resolutions is to “lose weight,” “tone up,” or “get fit,” which is usually code for lose some weight. Stop for a second and ask yourself how many times have you set a New Year’s resolution that is similar to the one that you’re going to set this year? Most people who are trying to lose weight every January do the same thing every January setting the same New Year’s resolution and usually they fail to accomplish them. Or they have a vague resolution such as “get fit” that it is very difficult to measure if you’ve actually successfully accomplished this or not.


A lot of trainers I know hate New Year’s resolutions and think that they are pointless because almost no one ever accomplishes them. I actually love them, I start planning mine in the two months leading up to New Years. I think that they can be an incredibly powerful tool if done properly. The biggest problem for most people is that they don’t do them properly, they just think I want to lose weight......so my New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight. This will not lead to success. I’ll walk you through two very important steps to being successful at accomplish your New Year’s resolution this year!

Step 1:
 
Assuming that you’ve got your resolution picked out for 2011 stop and actually ask yourself why it’s important to you. I want you to actually take some time and reflect and ask yourself why this goal you’re setting is important to you. But I don’t want you to simply do a quick thought I want you to actually stop and ask yourself why is that goal important. Most people don’t take the time to get to the real root importance of a goal and this is what causes that fleeting motivation that causes gym attendance rates to drop dramatically in February. I’ll use an example to help illustrate how to get to the real reason your goal is important to you.


Let’s pretend your goal is to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 (always make sure your goals or resolutions are specific). Most people when I ask them to figure out why this type of goal is important to them they say I want to look better and fit into my old clothes.


So they are basically saying:


“I want to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I’ll look better and I can fit into my old clothes”


This person has only scratched the surface of why their goal is important to them. Read that sentence above. How motivating does that sound, how strong is that reason to lose weight? I’ll give you an example of a client who dug deeper into their importance of their goal. Notice how she takes each answer and continues to figure out why that’s important to her.


I want to accomplish my current goal of losing 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I will like how the new me looks


This is important to me because I will feel more comfortable throughout my days at work, shopping, and in social situations


 
This is important to me because I am constantly worrying about how I look, if my clothes make me look good or bad, what other people are going to say about how I look. And I don’t want to worry anymore


 
This is important to me because all of the worrying is causing me serious anxiety, stress and does not allow me to fully enjoy my life and time with my family


 
This is important to me because I want to go through life feeling relaxed, confident and free without having constant worrying about what others think about how I look.


So her statement about why her New Years Resolution is important to her reads like this


 
“I want to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I will be able to go through life feeling relaxed, confident and free of having to worry about what other people think about the way I look”


Now compare this to the first statement:


“I want to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I’ll look better and I can fit into my old clothes”


 
Notice the huge difference between the two statements. One of the statements is very powerful and gets to the reason why her goal is really important to her and the issues that carrying the extra weight is currently creating in her own life. Take your New Year’s Resolution (make sure it’s specific) and take the time to reflect and figure out why that goal is so important to you and write down your New Year’s Resolution with the “why” behind it.
 

Step 2:


You now have the “why” behind your goal. Now we need to take the next step and actually figure out the “how” behind your New Year’s resolution. Most people are far too vague when going through the “how” behind their goal, especially with weight loss. They usually say I’ll eat better and exercise more, and if this is your plan I will guarantee you that you’re going to eventually gain the weight back.

 
You need to actually figure out all of the different changes that you’re going to have to make to your lifestyle and nutrition to get where you want to go. We will stick to the example above of the woman who wants to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011. Here is a list of some of the changes she has to make to accomplish her New Years resolution.


 
• Only eat food that I recognize all the ingredients on the ingredient list

• Take at least 2 hours every week to have time to myself and relax

• Drink ½ an ounce of water for every pound I weigh

• Eliminate all foods I’m intolerant to


 
These are just a couple examples from her list. If you actually outline all the different changes you have to make this will give you short term goals you can set to make sure you accomplish your New Year’s Resolution. Again it is important to be specific, she didn’t just say drink more water above she was specific about how much she had to drink.


 
The final step is to outline when you’re going to make the changes throughout the year. The easiest way to do this is to write on your calendar when you are going to make the specific changes. You can write down what changes you’re going to make every week.


 
You might be thinking this is a pain to go through all of these steps, but why is your New Year’s resolution important to you? If it’s really important to you and you really do want to accomplish your resolution this really shouldn’t seem like a lot of work. You should be excited about having the tools to know you’re going to accomplish your goal this year. You should be excited about the journey that is ahead of you. Actually take the time to do every single step outlined in this article.


To ensure success in 2011 follow these steps


1) Figure out the “why” behind your resolution.

2) Read your New Year’s resolution and the reason it’s important to you at least once every single day to keep it in the front of your mind.

3) Map out the “how” behind your resolution making sure to outline in detail which changes you have to make and when you’re going to be making them.


If you’re unsure about the “how” and you’re trying to lose weight you can download a FREE copy of “PEAK Fat Loss” a 6 month guide that walks you through every nutrition and lifestyle change you have to make to lose weight and keep it off. Follow this link to download your free copy of P.E.A.K. Fat Loss . Good luck this year!