NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!
Jan 05, 2017
The New Year is here… and just like that, you have a chance to clean the slate and move forward into a whole New Year. Regardless of how 2016 went for you, now is your chance to either ride your successes or create new ones. Resolutions are not always successful — and you’ll read why below – so I want to share some tips with you to help you meet your 2017 goals.
New Year’s Resolutions have been a common tradition since the Babylonian era. It’s a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to self-improvement in the new. Unfortunately, most of us are guilty of giving up on resolutions almost as quickly as we make them. A Franklin-Covey poll studied 15,000 customers with resolutions; four out of five failed to complete them and a third of those didn’t make it to the end of January.
Resolutions fail due to a combination of unrealistic goals and a lack of accountability. We resolve to quit smoking, lose weight, exercise more, but according to neuro-psychologists, trying to make a change by not doing something i.e.: NOT smoking, or NOT eating sugar, only makes these habits stronger. These behaviors have been ingrained in our brains and trying to change a habit requires rewiring our brains and creating new neural pathways to form new thinking.
According to University College London, it takes 66 days to create a habit, 66 days to change what is most likely years of a behavior. If four out of five failed to complete a resolution and third of them didn’t make it to the end of the first month, 66 days seems like a lifetime. Human beings are evolving creatures and when we want to truly change our behavior, there are ways to succeed.
This year, keep it simple: pick 1 or 2 goals that you feel would most impact your life in 2017. I like to focus on 3 main areas of my life: PERSONAL, CAREER and FAMILY. So think about 1-2 goals that would have the greatest impact in those areas of your life.
SOME EXAMPLES:
- PERSONAL
- Weight loss -eat smaller portions at ALL meals, so you learn to eat less
- Feel younger – do 10 minutes of stretching / foam rolling everyday
- CAREER
- Work at work – focus on getting more work done WHILE AT work
- Education- learn something new that will help stimulate your energy and drive at work
- FAMILY
- Quality Time – spend 1 on 1 time with each member of your family every day
- Listen – become a better listener; try to understand the other person’s point of view FIRST before saying anything.
MORE SUGGESTIONS FOR FORMULATING YOUR NEW YEARS’ RESOLUTIONS:
- Start by simply creating a realistic, specific goal. Instead of saying, “I want to lose weight”, think, “I want to lose 15 lbs. in 66 days”.
- Have a well thought-out plan that includes what to do when there are bumps in the road. There will always be rough spots and we need to anticipate these so we avoid quitting at the first obstacle.
- Small victories lead to a big picture. Losing 1 lb. a week seems insignificant, but if you continue this trend for 66 days you will have lost almost 10 lbs., and if you commit for the rest of the year you have the potential to lose more than 50 lbs.
- Celebrate every small victory, because that’s what they are: victories. If you haven’t smoked in a week, that’s a huge reason to celebrate, not with a cigarette, of course, but perhaps a massage, something relaxing to recharge you for the next week.
- Track your progress and have an accountability buddy. Having someone to share your successes with and vent to when you’re struggling helps keep you both on track. Another great way is to make your progress visible (photographic evidence!) so you’re constantly being reminded how you’ve succeeded so far and how much further you have until your next triumph.
- Focus on your new way of thinking to create the neural pathways in support of your new habit.
And in order to make room in your life for taking action and achieving your goals, you may also need to ELIMINATE some things. Just remember to keep it simple and CONSISTENT. Once you decide, stick to it!
The behaviors we are trying to change will always be there and there will be times where we revert to those old behaviors; but if we don’t focus on the slips, our new habits will become more influential and instead of a singular resolution, it will start a path to a lifestyle change.
Phil Dozois, Owner, Breakthru Fitness
Resources:
Hey!
