Ah, March. The time of year where the majority of winter is behind us, spring break is on the horizon, and New Year’s Resolutions have long since been left behind.
We don’t spend time reflecting on, and analyzing, the ways in which we want to better ourselves for an entire year, just to have them fall by the wayside within a few weeks. What would be the point?
If you’ve fallen off your resolution wagon, you don’t have to stay there. You can easily get back up and continue working towards achieving your goals with a little reworking.
Here are a few questions I want you to ask yourself for each resolution you set:
1. What actionable steps have you already taken to reach your resolution?
List out what steps you have already taken to reach your goal. I’m not talking about just setting the goal, but what concrete things you have already done to move forward with it and actually make it happen.
Was your resolution to read 100 books in 2016? That’s about 2 books per week, which means you should have already read 13 books.
Was your resolution to eat a vegetable at each meal? That means you should be meal planning on some level and have researched a few new recipes.
Was your resolution to lose 20 pounds this year? That’s about half a pound a week, which means you should already be down about 4 stable pounds through healthier eating and more daily movement.
2. Are the steps you’ve already taken sustainable for another 305 days?
Whatever your resolution, and steps you’ve already done to get there, are you going to be able to maintain this level of focus for the rest of the year? If you’re setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier to get in your workout, are you feeling confident and excited about that, or are you grumpy because you’re missing sleep? If you are aiming to eat healthier, are you feeling deprived, binging, or having cheat days to compensate for lack of satiation?
If all you can think about is, “How much longer do I have to…”, then your steps are not sustainable; you’re not creating a lifestyle change, but rather a “crash” change for a short term effect.
What steps can you take instead that will still help you achieve your goals and not leave you feeling miserable?
3. Was your resolution overzealous? If yes, how can you change it to be more attainable?
Are you already feeling overwhelmed by your goal? So much so that you aren’t even starting? Then perhaps your resolution is too much at this point in your life. That doesn’t mean you have to abandon it completely. It just means you need to rework your resolution slightly to make it attainable. For instance, if you’ve only read one book in your goal towards 100 in the year, try moving to one book a month, or 10 books off the best-seller list.
Our goals are not meant to cause us stress, but rather to help improve ourselves. If you are feeling stressed, then that’s a clear sign it’s time to re-evaluate.
4. What supports do you need to have in place in order to be successful with your resolution?
No one is successful without a support system, whether that be people on board with your plans, healthy snacks readily available, a plethora of books downloaded to your kindle, or a workout schedule created and ready. Determine absolutely everything you need, no matter how minute, in order to make your resolution a complete success.
For example, using the 100 books in a year goal, the supports I would need include:
- A list of at least 50 books to read (as a start)
- List of books to read that month
- A running list of the books I have already read
- Upcoming books to read ready to go – downloaded or on the bookshelf
- Good reading light
- A space to read
- Significant Other on board with goal
- Minimum amount of time to read per day set aside
5. How long will it take to put those specified supports in place?
One point of frustration for many after setting a goal, is that progress towards it doesn’t happen right away, or quickly enough. Before you can be truly successful, you need to plan the time it will take to put your supports in place to ensure your success. Sure, you can get started on your goal immediately in some small way while you work towards getting everything you need, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t see progress immediately either.
For example, compiling a list of at least 50 books could take 2-3 days depending on how long your booklist already is. Obtaining the books for the month could take another 2-3 days depending on your method of book getting – library, kindle, book stores. Ordering a good reading light is a minimum of 2 days through Amazon Prime.
6. Is this the true goal you want to achieve, or is there an underlying goal masking as this?
Whatever your goal, I really want you to reflect on if that is truly what you want to accomplish, or is there something else you want to do that is masking at this one goal? For instance, you set the goal to read 100 books, but perhaps what you really want is the ability to have more in depth conversations with others on various topics like politics, literature, and current events. Instead of 100 books in a year being the ultimate goal, try a news app like The Skimm, or subscribing to a paper.
Spend some time working through each question in order to make your resolutions truly come to fruition this year. To work one-on-one with me as your Health Coach to analyze, and set, your resolutions/goals, shoot me an email to schedule a free consultation at wreckingroutine@gmail.com, or complete the form below and I will get in touch with you!
RQ: What has been the easiest and most difficult part of achieving your resolutions this year (or past years)?
I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.
