3 Mistakes about New Year’s Resolutions and How to Fix Them
So you’re fooling around social media and everybody’s talking about new year’s resolutions. For some reason, the theme “weight loss” or “fat loss” keeps coming around this time of the year. The beginning.
And for some reason you chose, to read my article. Let’s see why.
Most people think of a great goal on on January first, mainly after a couple of drinks and extreme binge eating, that they will be losing 5, 10 or 15kg this year.
Obviously, they had the same goal last year, but for some reason, it didn’t work out so good. So what should you do?
Just state that you have the same goal this year, without doing anything different, only this time you will surely achieve it. You have watched every single motivational video there is and you’re pretty confident.
For some reason, I trust, YOU ARE NOT going to be the same person this year.
If you’re following this blog for quite some time, you must know that we don’t do conventional stuff. We educate you to make your own best choices and let you reap the results of YOUR own efforts.
If you don’t do what’s needed, I am sorry, but that’s all your fault and you need to get more info.
I will go out on a limb and say that 80% of people, not happy with their weight, do not have the proper information about their body (or their mind) and how it works, in order to make the necessary adjustments.
But I have informed you numerous times about that and we keep on bringing more articles which are addressing the small issues of a weight loss endeavor.
Today, I am going to teach you how to make a proper new year’s resolution and set goals like a pro.
This year, you will DO, whatever you plan to achieve.
So let’s get on with it.
Mistake #1: Not having a Specific Goal
The goals for fitness are always so generic.
– Lose weight
– Become strong
– Become more active
Obviously, this is not the way to go.
The thing is, our minds get distracted every day by a million things. If you put another “abstract” thing on your mind, like “lose weight” then your minds needs to consume extra energy to figure out how to accomplish that goal.
If you think about “weight loss” at 10 in the evening after a hard day’s work, good luck. You will be hungry as hell and you won’t have time to think.
Do you remember what happens when you’re hungry at night?
You don’t have the luxury of thinking at that time. You need to do the thinking part, beforehand.
So how do we make the “weight loss” simple?
Be specific.
Weight loss → I need to go from 64kg to 60kg.
Become Strong → I need to squat 100kg.
Become more active → I need to be able to walk for 1hour with hurting or heavy breathing.
So with this in mind make a very specific goal. The more specific, the better.
Mistake #2: Not having a Specific Timeframe
Again with the specificity. As I said earlier you need to be prepared. Have a plan in place.
So what’s a specific timeframe?
– 5kg loss in 6 months
– 100kg Squat in 12 months
– 1h walking in 3 months
The biggest advantage for that is that now your goal can be divided into mini goals.
If you think about losing 20kg in one year, that sounds extreme, right?
What if I told you to lose 1,6kg every month?
0,4kg per week?
50grams per day?
The per day sounds a bit foolish, but you get the point.
Another great example that can make mini goals to extreme levels is book reading.
20 books in a year sound too much?
What about 1,6 books per month?
40% of a book per week?
5% of a book per day?
Mini goals, are the way to go if you want to make huge progress.
My personal favorite way to divide your biggest goals is to do it by quarters.
Example. 20 books in 1 year → 5 books in the first quarter (Q1)
What I like to do is set a long-term goal for a quarter (3 months) and then have smaller monthly or weekly goals, depending on the type of the goal.
Mistake #3: Not creating Habits
There is no goal that was ever accomplished without a habit in place. Even if you “accidentally” hit your goal, it was because of the underlying habit.
Even if you didn’t think about it (that’s even better) and still accomplished your goal, it was because of the habit.
There’s no way around that. You need to have a habit of it.
So how do you build habits?
BE SPECIFIC
Have I stressed this enough yet?
So the first thing is you need to decide, on what is the habit that you’re going to implement.
If for example, your goal is to run a marathon, then the habit would be, practice smaller distances twice a week. Eventually, you will have better and better results.
If your goal is weight loss, a habit could be to skip breakfast.
If the goal is walking for 1h straight without hurting, then start walking for 15 minutes per day. Then go for 30, etc.
This habit thing can be tricky as you need to have cues, that will remind of what you have to do, or prime you for doing it.
A cue is a signal prompting an event or action, especially in a performance;
As I have mentioned before, I use the Reminders app on my iPhone to hit me at specific times.
For example, I always weight myself weekly, on Friday morning.
Obviously, this is embedded in my brain now, but the reminder is there to help me not forget it, because sometimes, life happens. ?
I have another reminder for remembering to brush my teeth in the evening. Some people may think that this is stupid or “too much”.
Trust me, these are the same people that make resolutions each year, that they never accomplish because they were too “good” to put a reminder on their phone.
Have a reminder about every single habit that you want to have and is not yet embedded.
It takes time, just be persistent. Even if you lose it a couple of times first, let the reminder be there. Your subconscious mind will work behind the scenes, and eventually, the habit will start to kick in.
Lastly, I want to help you address the concept of “failure”.
Failure is the second best thing that can happen you. The first is accomplishment.
What is the worst? Lack of effort.
Do not be the guy/girl that does the exact same thing each year while waiting for results to change.
If you want to have something you never had, you must be willing to do something you never did. (Obviously, someone much wiser than me, said that a long time ago)
If you want to have something you never had, you must be willing to do something you never did. Share on XSo let’s kick off this year with some great mini goals for the next quarter and with some habits that will help us accomplish those goals.
Recap:
- Specific Goals (example. Lose 5kg, Squat 100kg for 5 reps, etc.)
- Reasonable Timeframe (example. Lose 5kg in 6 months, 1 book in 1 month)
- Make Habits (example. Go to the gym 3 times a week, Read for 30min each day, etc.)
If you want it bad enough, then you deserve to have it. Prove it.