New Year - A New You? How to win in 2021
2020 was an unusually hard year and more people jumped on the resolution train in hopes of making 2021 better. It is almost a month into the New Year, have you stayed committed to your resolutions? Do you see yourself maintaining them through to December?
Although we all start out with the best of intentions, very few of us will actually succeed in sustaining these resolutions past Valentine’s Day. According to a study done by the University of Scranton, only 8 percent of people are successful after setting a New Year resolution. Let’s not give up yet!!
The reason many people fail is that they have a general statement but not a specific measurable goal with no plan on how to get there. To say “I am going to lose weight” is a perfect example. What does that mean? How will you do this? How will you measure if you are achieving your goal?
In order to successfully set goals, you first need a vision of your future. Almost all successful athletes, business professionals and people who have acquired wealth have a vision and regularly set goals that are designed to help them achieve this vision. Vision….it sounds more daunting than it is, this is your life and you are in control of what you want it to be. It is not daunting, being in control of your own destiny is exciting! An easier way to look at it may be where do I see myself 10 years from now? If you have not taken the time to determine what you want out of life and understand what will make you happy, a generic resolution will not get you there. You may even surprise yourself, as I did, in appreciating the process of defining what you really want your life to be.
Without a vision, you will often lack the follow through needed to achieve your goals as you do not have a clear picture of what this means to your overall happiness. When life is hard and obstacles present themselves, your vision will motivate you to keep working toward your goals.
Goals are the pathway to achieving your vision of the future. Examples of goal categories are family, career, financial, education, attitude, health, personal and community. Each small step in accomplishing a goal brings you closer to your desired life, your vision of the future. A goal should be specific, measureable, achievable, relevant to your vision and trackable.
You have reflected and chosen your goal, for example “I am going to lose weight”. Now it is time to break this down and clearly define your plan of action. It is also important that it is achievable but challenging. If you set goals too high it can de-motivate you; you can always re-define the goals to make them harder as you work through them.
Questions for defining a goal “I am going to lose weight”:
(1) What are the specific targets?
a. Lose 20 lbs. by the end of May, 4 lbs. per month
b. Run 10Km race by end of June
c. Lower BMI 25% by end of May
(2) When? Lose 20 pounds by May and maintain through December 31, 2021
(3) Why? Why is this important to you and your vision?
a. Improve energy and focus
b. Keep up with my children for an active life
c. Live the longest and healthiest life possible
d. Improve flexibility and reduce aches and pain
(4) How? The specific steps to complete
a. 30 minutes of Cardio 5 x per week
b. 30 minutes of Yoga 3 x per week
c. Weights 5 x per week
d. Prep meals – carbs only one serving per day
e. Plan workouts for each day
f. Track accomplishments – weigh, measure and track workouts
(5) Who do you need to become?
a. I need to plan exercise every day and make it a priority
b. Plan all my meals, reduced sugar and carbs
c. Don’t become discouraged when routine is broken, positive focus on accomplishments
d. Avoid letting distractions interrupt my time to exercise
e. Be ok with more frequent shorter work out sessions that work with my schedule each day
Once you have written down your goals for the year break them down into quarterly and monthly targets that you can measure, the smaller the target the more you can celebrate your wins and stay motivated.
Many people are finding lock downs and being home for extended periods of time difficult. We have heard all the health advisories to plan your day as a means to improve mental health. Lock down or no lock down, planning your day is a key motivator. Writing down your plan daily and then reviewing your success to meeting it will not only keep you on track, it increases your productivity and allows you to see your accomplishments each day. As well, it provides a timely way to redesign your day when you see that you are not able to accomplish what you set out to do. It is not uncommon for people to over plan their day but an end of day review will help keep you on track.
Starting can be the hardest step. Once you start living your life intentionally, with your vision and real goals to help you achieve this vision, it is much more fulfilling and will bring happiness. As you achieve these goals you feel accomplishment, become more confident and new improved habits form which makes it easier to do it naturally. The most common thought is that it takes 21 days to form a new habit; that is just three weeks out of 52 in a year! What are you waiting for? There are still 49 weeks left in 2021! It is a New Year – make 2021 the year for a New You!
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