Have you ever set a New Year's resolution to lose weight, workout more or eat healthier? How did it go? Did you wake up on January 1st, clean out all "junk food" from your fridge and pantry, do a huge grocery shopping trip of "only healthy food" and then hit the overcrowded gym?
And then by January 12th you're exhausted, sore and some of those forbidden foods are making their way back into your shopping cart...right? And by the end of January you can't remember why you decided to start in the first place? As a fitness professional I have seen this pattern time and time again - the New Year comes around and people feel this pull to change EVERYTHING to do with their health at the same time and then when it gets hard (because it will) old habits start to creep back in and momentum fades.
Approximately 80% of people fail to keep New Year's resolutions. That's a staggering number. And roughly 55% of resolutions are health related centred around things like getting fit, losing weight, eating healthier, quitting smoking or working out more.
The Oxford Dictionary defines a resolution as "a firm decision to do or not to do something." And I believe this is one of the reasons why resolutions fail. We set this intention to stop doing something that we view as bad or wrong - such as eating a certain food or eliminating a certain habit - and when we slip up, we immediately view it as failure. Believe me, I've been there too.
The issue with resolutions is that the statements are too broad and lack a plan. For example, saying "my resolution is to workout more this year" doesn't actually explain the who, what, where, when and how of it. How often are you going to workout? And for how long? And what kind of workout are you going to do? Where are you going to workout, especially during reoccurring pandemic lockdowns? Who are you going to workout with - by yourself, with a spouse/parter, in a group? And how do you actually know when you've achieved your resolution to "workout more"? Is it after one week, one month or one year?
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Resolutions are (usually) too vague so we actually have no idea how to measure whether we've succeeded or not. And why the heck do they always have to be set in January? The New Year can feel like a great place to start making some fresh changes, but you don't need to wait until the next year comes around to set out to adapt some healthier habits.
So instead, I set goals. I prefer to work towards an achievement rather than resolve to stop doing something that's "bad" because it's a more positive way to approach it. In the past this has been in the form of signing up for endurance races or finishing a new strength training program or launching my website. And none of these were ever goals that I started working toward on January 1.
The other issue I see with these vague resolutions is that the motivation is often extrinsic rather than intrinsic in nature. Extrinsic motivation comes from an external factor (e.g. I want to lose weight for my wedding/vacation/reunion) and once that external factor is gone, motivation usually follows suit. If your goal is intrinsically motivated (e.g. I want to lose weight so I can wean off my blood pressure medication) and specific to your own health and wellness, you are MUCH more likely to be successful.
I know A LOT of people are looking forward to putting 2020 behind them and all of the possibilities that 2021 might bring. So what goals do you want to achieve for yourself? How are you going to move forward? What new things do you want to learn or do? Who do you want to be? How do you know when you get there?
If you need some help honing in on the specifics of a health and fitness goal I'd love to guide you! Book a FREE 30-minute Discovery Session with me and lets chat about how to empower your health and fitness. Because YOU matter.
xo Jen
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