In helping people achieve their fitness goals over the years, I’ve seen people turn New Year’s resolutions into long-term practice. And I’ve seen them fall by the wayside sooner than you can say “pass the queso.”
How come some people seize the moment and others don’t?
Here are 10 do’s and don’ts for making this the year you achieve your goals in 2018.
5 things successful people do:
- Successful people take immediate action to commit themselves to a resolution. They enroll in a class, request information on a program, throw out their candy, etc. right away.
- Successful people make manageable commitments. Things they can do right now. (For example, if exercising five days a week isn’t realistic, they work out twice a week.)
- Successful people make their resolutions for a short, specific period of time that they can actually commit to.
- Successful people start with resistance training and interval training because they deliver the greatest results for the time invested.
- Successful people team up with positive friends. You’ll pick each other up when one of you is thinking about skipping.
5 things that cause people to come up short:
- They have vague goals like “exercise more” or “eat better”, instead of specific and measurable goals.
- They try to change every single aspect of your life simultaneously. Results come quickly, but the implosion usually isn’t far behind.
- They try to keep their resolutions a secret because they want to hide their moments of weakness.
- They start with the least effective exercise like walking or jogging and are disappointed by their results.
- They commit to unrealistic things for an entire year, such as “I won’t eat any sugar in 2018.” This virtually guarantees you’ll feel like a failure.
Commit to yourself and seize this new year!