A Better New Year's Resolution

Hey everyone! It's been a while, I know. I have definitely had to focus on others aspects of this job for the past few months but this seemed like an important time to drop a new post. I was just going to write a Facebook post but that didn't seem as fitting as writing on here.

The day I'm writing this is December 29th which means that New Years is just a few days away. I'm sure that tons of people are already getting their New Year's Resolutions in their head and deciding how they want to better themselves in 2018. In this post, I want to go over how I feel about Resolutions and how to write a better one so that you won't be like most people this coming year.

I want to start off with this: New Year's Resolutions are a good thing! A very good thing in my opinion because any time someone is trying to better themselves in any way is great! I'm sure you've already been seeing the memes making fun of "Resolutioners" and how they're never going to stick to their goals and I think that's bullshit. Why are we making fun of anyone who's trying to improve? We should be encouraging anyone and helping them get there instead of contributing to their failure. Of course I'm aware that most people do fail at hitting their new year goal but a lot of that actually has to do with their goal in the first place.

Take a second and think of a Resolution you've come up with and the past and failed at. It may have been somethings like "I want to get in shape" or "I want to start eating better". The problem with setting goals like that is that they are destined to fail based on the simple fact that there is no actually goal to hit! What constitutes "in shape"? What does "eating better" mean? You need to define these terms and make you resolution a specific goal that can be accomplished.

So taking from one of those examples you can switch "eating better" to "I want to eat vegetables at one meal per day for 30 days" or "I will only eat out instead of at home 2 times per week instead of 8 for 60 days". Both of those things constitute "eating better" but are changed into something that is actionable and specific.

Have you ever heard of S.M.A.R.T goals? S.M.A.R.T. is a good starting point for goal setting that you can use to write a better Resolution. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Bound and while I don't always use or agree with all of these (having unrealistic goals can be very, very beneficial), it can help a ton in this instance.

I'll use my NYR as an example. I got the idea last week and I've actually already started doing it (practicing what I preach of course). The idea was to not purchase any energy drinks, protein bars, snacks or anything else from the gym I work at for 60 days. We have a ton of different drinks and preworkouts that I would buy almost every day (sometimes twice a day) and I would use our protein bars and other snacks as an excuse to be unprepared with my own food. This goal will help my life in a couple different ways, specifically saving me a ton of money and helping me rebuild good habits that I have lost in the last few months. Now I'm forced to be more prepared with the food and coffee I bring each day which is a better option for my health anyway. I also picked 60 days as a goal because that is enough time to really cement a new habit. (Here's a tip too, you've probably heard that it takes 21 days to learn a new habit, or maybe 30, but it's probably actually longer. That 21-30 days is actually the most critical time in habit building so losing focus there can be very detrimental).

So here's my advice, take what you're already thinking and make it more specific, make it something that can be attained in the first few months, or, if it's a longer goal, set short term goals along the way so that you can check up on your progress and stay motivated. For reference, healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week for most people and weight gain should be around .5-1 pound per week. You should definitely set yourself up to succeed but that doesn't mean make it so easy that it won't make a difference in your life. You don't want it to be so small that you get there right away and have nothing change in your life. And, like I mentioned early, don't be afraid to ALSO set unrealistic goals for the long term. It may sound weird  but aiming for seemingly impossible goals will help you improve drastically and even if you don't accomplish that goal, you'll be in a much better place than you were before.

Once you have a specific, measurable, and time bound goal think of a reward to give yourself when you hit it. Make it something you really want and something that will motivate you do get through the hard days when you want to quit. Likewise, don't make it something that will undo any progress you made during that time period. Having a reward in mind will greatly increase the chances of you succeeding and you'll get something cool in the end. Win win.

If you do have a health or workout based goal and you feel like you need some help then reach out to me and I'll show you how I can help you get there. One of my life goals is to be a household name in the fitness industry and be the first person you think of when you need help or have questions. I am definitely here to help and make sure you succeed this year for, maybe, the first time ever!

See you next time

- Greg the Trainer