3… 2… 1… HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And just like that, we are entering 2024 and 2023 is behind us. And you know what that means…
Yep! New Year’s Resolutions!
I’ll be totally honest with you, before I was a nutrition coach / personal trainer, I hated New Year’s Resolutioners. To me, it just meant that my gym was going to be crowded, it would be hard to find a parking spot, and people would be using the equipment I was so used to not waiting in line for.
Then I worked at a corporate gym, where I started to like New Year’s Resolutions – people coming in to better themselves. But I strongly disliked the diet and fitness culture that preached less food, more movement and eventually led to people passing out on cardio equipment, getting injured, or burning out quickly.
And now I’m in a different season of life. I own my own business that encourages and empowers people to achieve their goals in a healthy and sustainable way. But I’m also a gym goer who likes to smile at the newbies and let them know they are welcome here.
So, I’ve been on a whole spectrum of how I feel about New Year’s Resolutions. I’m curious where you are on this spectrum currently?
And it’s okay if you are someone who despises the Resolutioners!
But here’s some food for thought for you:
There’s evidence that starting in the new year, on a Monday, at the beginning of the month, and so on is beneficial for us when we set goals.
According to the Associate of Psychological Science, “Dates that stand out as being more meaningful – such as the start of a new week or financial quarter, a birthday, or a holiday – signal the start of a new, distinct time period. These ‘temporal landmarks’ make it easier for people to mentally separate from their past imperfections and failures. Essentially, people are more empowered and motivated to pursue their goals when they feel like their past failures are behind them and their future success is ahead of them.”
When the ball drops, the clock hits 12am, and you cheer to the New Year, maybe you too have felt that hope?
But maybe you dislike Resolutions because they’ve never truly worked for you, and that’s okay too!
When you are setting goals for the New Year – or at any point of the year – here are 4 things I hope you can keep in mind.
Know the difference between goals and habits.
How I look at this is, your goal is the big thing you want to achieve. The big fish! But the habits are the little action items that lead to achieving the big goal.
For example, if you want to lose 20lbs, that’s a great goal. But we don’t achieve that goal by hopes, prayers, vibes, and dreams. Instead, we break down what that would look like in actionable steps. Do you go into a calorie deficit? What are those calories and macros? What does your movement look like? How does your sleep routine and number of hours of sleep look like? All of those (and more) will contribute to that 20lbs of weight loss.
Focus on one habit at a time.
“When we try to do more than one thing at once, quality and quantity suffer. It’s much better to finish one thing before tackling a second thing,” states JD Roth in Get Rich Slowly.
Statistically, when we only have one thing to focus on, we do a better job achieving that thing. When we add a second or third thing to focus on, we are starting to stretch ourselves thin and our success rate drastically decreases. This is why the majority of people fail at their Resolutions.
Taking our 20lb weight loss example, how can you layer in the habits? Start with the calorie deficit. When that becomes a habit and easy, start incorporating a movement routine, and so on.
Understand the WHY behind your goals.
Though having a goal that’s surface level – like I want to lose this weight for my beach vacation – can get you started, it most likely won’t keep you going.
When our goals are deeper, they keep us showing up to the gym, eating the meal we know our body needs, and making it a routine. How can we dig deeper? Are your goals so you can improve your bloodwork and stay off medication? Is it so your children can have their parent around as long as possible? Is it because you don’t feel like yourself and you want to feel attractive to your partner and confident for that promotion at work?
Do you see how that is a deep motivation than the beach vacation?
Write down your goals and look at them often.
When we write down our goals – and I mean, physically writing them down with a pen on paper – there is a brain-to-hand connection that happens. By writing it down, the goal sticks.
But I want to go a step further. After you write them down, have reminders that you will consistently see. Maybe a sticky note on your computer, dry erase marker on your mirror, a wallpaper on your phone that has to do with your goal. Make it something you see often!
Have a plan and a backup plan, and maybe even a backup plan to the backup plan.
It’s very rare that we just crush it the first time. After you write down your plan, have back up plans in case the original plan doesn’t work for you.
If you had planned on morning workouts, but find it hard to get up, workout, then come home and get the kids and yourself ready for school and work, it’s okay to revise that to workouts at a time that works better for you.
If you planned on Sundays being your meal prep day, but Sundays you feel drained, it’s okay to adjust your meal plan day.
Just because plan A didn’t work for you right now doesn’t mean you throw in the towel and call it quits with your goals. No, instead you can do Plan B – Plan Z until you find what works for you during this time!
So, whether you love a fresh start on the first of the year (that’s also the first of the month and on a Monday!) or you are someone who takes it a bit slower to start the year, you can always use these tips when setting new goals and sticking to them.
And if you need support towards your goals, I invite you to schedule a FREE DISCOVERY CALL with me to see how we can crush your goals this year!
Happy New Year, my friends!
