It's all about your state of mind when it comes to the success of New Year's Resolutions. See what that means here.
Where did the time go? It’s already the end of the year, and 2008 is almost upon us. There’s so much optimism in the air right now; businesses are laying out their annual game plans for 2008, school years are half over, and New Year’s Resolutions are being formed.
There are so many types of resolutions, but why do so many fail? Why is “New Year’s Resolution” such a cliché? What will get people to take New Year’s Resolutions seriously, instead of just feeling there’s an obligation to make them? What will get people to back up their words with their actions? I think it comes down to one thing and one thing only. To be successful with New Year’s Resolutions, I think it’s all a state of mind!
I know there are many different kinds of resolutions, but since I’m a personal trainer, I’m obviously going to just focus on one. You guessed it, the fitness resolutions. So as I was saying earlier, success is a state of mind. The problem with resolutions is a lot of them are spur-of-the-moment decisions. You see a magazine article and decide you want to change, or maybe you even read this article and decide to change. Don’t get me wrong, I hope you enjoy reading my articles, but don’t let them be your driving force to succeed.
New Year’s Resolutions are doomed to fail if they are made on a whim. There needs to be some serious thought put into resolutions to make them stick. This is why I feel so many fail is because when the resolutions are made, the individual is extremely motivated, but as time goes on, that motivation fades, or that magazine article becomes forgotten.
Don’t do this to yourself!
You’ll be so frustrated and disappointed if you continue to form resolutions on a whim. Find something that’ll be a continual source of motivation, something that’ll keep you mentally focused on the task at hand. In fact, this is what I have to do. I can’t just make myself work out just to work out. I have to set a goal for myself. For example, to keep myself running, I sometimes have to enter myself into a race. By having that goal off in the distance, it gets me outside and running on the days I don’t feel like it. If I don’t get out and run, then I won’t hit my goal of performing well on race day.
Do the same for yourself. Maybe you want to fit into a dress for a summer wedding or be able to play football with the kids in the backyard without collapsing a lung. You must find the “why” for forming resolutions. Don’t form resolutions so you can lose 20 lbs. Why do you want to lose 20 lbs.? Why do you want to get stronger? When you figure out the “why” for your resolutions, you train your mind to stay focused on the prize.
Here’s another idea: find a workout buddy. By having someone else there with you, you can keep each other accountable and motivated to achieve results. When you don’t feel like working out, that buddy will be there to get you moving and vice versa. Be careful though; make sure you find someone who’s just as motivated as you from the start. Workout partners can backfire because if you find someone who doesn’t have a goal, then chances are you’ll be dragged down with your buddy. Choose wisely my friends, choose wisely.
The faster you can train your mind to be mentally tough and not give up on your goals, the faster those goals will become reality. So when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions and success, make sure you sharpen your mind for the struggles that’ll come with reaching your goals, but most importantly, don’t ever, ever give up! Believe in yourself! After all, that’s what separates the successful from the unsuccessful, staying focused on your goals and actually believing you can do it, not just saying you can! Be that success story in the gym! Let your fitness results be what others use as conversation starters instead of you starting conversations about their results! Be the minority and actually achieve what you set out to do! If you do, you’ll be an inspiration to everyone around you!
Note:
I’ll be off next week spending some much anticipated R&R celebrating Christmas with the fam. I look forward to getting back at it after that, so be looking for my next article on goal setting to come out on Saturday, January 5th. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Dan Falkenberg is the co-founder and co-owner of Your Live Trainers. He can be reached at DanFalkenberg.com.