So, you decided that THIS was the year you were finally going to get in shape. But now that the confetti has settled, you need to figure out exactly how you’re going to make that happen. Here’s our advice for how you should approach your resolution for your best chance at success.
- Decide on the destination – “Getting fit” is really vague, and means something different to everyone. The first step to success is choosing a well-defined goal. Something you can measure, like a target weight, going down a clothing size or how often you’ll work out.
- Make a plan – Don’t just show up. Knowing in advance that achieving your goal is going to take lots of hard work, and planning out the steps you’ll take to get there, will not only make your goal seem less daunting, it will also help you track where you are in the process.
- Love the process – Working out is not just about physical activity. It’s about fueling, hydrating, increasing strength, increasing endurance. You can set incremental goals in any or all of those categories that will help contribute to reaching your ultimate goal.
- Play the long game – Listen to your body and don’t expect immediate results. Too often, people push as hard as they can, only to have an injury derail their whole plan. Learning which pains to work through and when you need to slow down is just as crucial to long term success as making ongoing progress.
- Reward yourself – Any time you reach a milestone, make sure you celebrate it. It’s so easy to get lost in the drive forward that we don’t take time to realize how far we’ve come. Nothing makes you more ready to take on the next challenge than the feeling of accomplishment from having conquered the last one.
- Stay flexible – Don’t be afraid to adjust your goals as you go. If your current goal starts to feel unreachable, set one that feels more achievable. Wherever you DO get to will still be miles ahead of where you are now.
The most important aspect of your resolution, is that it needs to be meaningful to you. This isn’t about what other people think, or what other people are doing. This is about you choosing to change yourself for the better. Now go and do it.