New Year’s Revolutions: 2019 Edition

We get it! “New year, new you!” is just another well-intentioned slogan to motivate you to make a big change this year. But, before we get into some of the depressing stats about New Year’s resolutions, I’m going to ask: Do you really need to create a new version of yourself, or just improve upon your already wonderful self?

According to Forbes.com “...Some estimates say more than 40% of Americans—make New Year's resolutions. But for all the good intentions, only a tiny fraction of us keep our resolutions; University of Scranton research suggests that just 8% of people achieve their New Year's goals.” Despite your good intentions, failure rates suggest “About 22% of resolutions fail after about a week, 40% after a month…” and you don’t want to hear the rest, because I’m not here to bum you out.

At the beginning of 2018, I shared my view of putting a more positive spin on making “resolutions” by focusing on getting the wheels turning, get started moving, and find new ways to improve. There were examples of both qualitative and quantitative fitness goals to help give you a little direction. This year, I want to provide a few additional tips on how you can ensure you stick to your revolutions all year long!

Keep It Simple

Most people fail because they bite off more than they can handle. Setting too many goals or trying to make too many changes all at once can feel overwhelming and discouraging - to the point of giving up. To keep your goals simple, choose only one or two things to focus on at a time. You can’t change your life all at once, so don’t try too. Recognize that each day of success if a step towards accomplishing your overall goal.

For example: Instead of setting a goal of trying to lose 25 pounds this year, set your sights on trying to lose 1-2 pounds each week.

Be Specific

Having big goals is great, especially when you’re looking at the big picture of creating your legacy. However, large goals can be hard to sustain if they’re not specific enough. Being specific helps make the goal more concrete. Plus, you know exactly what you are going to do every day to help you achieve that lofty goal.

For example:  Instead of resolving to “visit the gym 4 days each week,” refine it to setting goals of attending Bootcamp every Tuesday and Thursday, participating in one group fitness class, and going outside for a long walk or light run.

Be Mindful

Awareness is one of the most critical components for success in any goal. Don’t assume you’re going to remember your revolution two months from now. Write it down on a sticky note for you to see every morning as you’re getting ready for the day. Put a note on your calendar to check-in with yourself once a week to review the goal and track progress. Maybe even share your goal with a like-minded friend who can help keep you engaged - especially when you’re ready to quit. Having awareness of your goal will help to keep motivating you to successfully achieve your resolution.

Did you meet last year’s goal… or did you forget about it by Spring?

You may remember I had created a fitness goal for myself to lift 5,000,000 total pounds by the end of the year. Which, I’m proud to say that I did accomplish! It seemed lofty to begin with, however, I broke it down into simple manageable goals and keep track of it every day, week, and month.  

Here are my goals for 2019:

Fitness Goal: Lift 7,000,000 total pound by the end of 2019. I enjoyed the 5 million goal so much last year, that I choose to do it again. I’m upping the intensity of it this time and feel very confident that I will achieve it.

Personal goal: To continue the personal, daily hard work that it has taken me to get to a point of better happiness.  Often times I reach a comfort level, in several areas of my life, and then I go on cruise control and don’t continue to do the daily work that got me to that point. I realize this causes me to relapse and thus go through the struggle all over again. Not this year.  This is my year to thrive and push harder at creating the best life I can.

There you have it. My 2019 goals to continue growing and achieving bigger and better things.  To help hold each other accountable, I want you to share what your goals, or New Year’s Revolutions, are going to be for 2019. And, how do you plan on achieving them? Give me a shout and let’s make 2019 our best year yet!