Fitness columnist Emmet Rushe has a no-nonsense guide to achieving lifestyle goals in 2019.
Happy New Year ladies.
I hope that it is what you expect it to be and you have a healthy and happy one 
If you are planning your New Year’s resolutions for this year, stop and read this first!
I want you all to think about what you have in mind for 2019.
Now think back to the last few years and what you wanted then.
Is there any difference between what you wished for the last few years and what you are planning for 2019?
If not, ask yourself how the last few years went and if you managed to stick to your resolutions, or if you fell off the wagon 2-3 weeks into January and never got started again.
If this has been the case for every New Years Resolution you have set, it’s time to make a change.
How we set up and approach our goals at the beginning of our journey will ultimately make or break the outcomes of our goals the further into them we get.
The lack of set up and forward planning is one of the main reasons for the failure rate of New Year’s resolutions before the end of January.
We simply say what we are going to do and only focus on the end goal without having a plan to get there.
When things inevitably get difficult a couple of weeks in, we have no plan in place to help us, so the easiest option is to give up.
So, why is it so important when it comes to you and your goals to have a plan in place?
When we look at New Year’s resolutions, or diets, or the popular weight loss programs that you see advertised everywhere at this time of year, they all have one thing in common;
High failure rates.
These programs are not made to last, and we know this.
In fact, if you look at some of the advertising for some of these products, they actually tell us that other similar products have failed, but theirs is different.
They are setting you up for failure before you even begin by planting the seed of thought that it might fail.
This is absolutely detrimental to you when you are starting out on an exercise or weight loss goal.
Think about it;
How many times have you tried and failed before?
How many times have you tried, only for your friends/family/co-workers to make it hard for you to succeed because of negativity or pointing out previous failures?
Self- belief plays an important role in how we approach goals, tasks and challenges.
If we start our journey with the mindset that we have been down this path before and we ‘know’ that failure is at the end, we will more than likely fail.
We have to approach our new goals with a new approach.
When you are planning out your 2019 goals, setting mini goals within a larger goal can help you to stay on track.
This is a way to increase your self-belief and chances of success when you are starting out.
We have 2 types of goals:
- Outcome focused goals
- Process focused goals
Outcome focused goals are easy.
We all have them: “I want to lose 2 stone”, “I want to be rich”, “I want to have a 6 pack”.
These are all great goals to have, if you want them, but they are meaningless without having a clear process to get us to our outcome.
This is where the mini goals come into play.
If the outcome is to lose 2 stone, the process has to reflect this goal, and if it is set out right it can help to keep you on track.
OUTCOME = Lose 2 stone
PROCESS;
- Drink water every day
- Workout 3 times per week
- Reduce the amount of sugary drinks I have per week
- Walk to work 3 out of 5 days per week.
- Reduce the amount of processed foods I eat.
- Eat some sort of protein with every meal
- Hit 10 thousand steps per day
You might look at this process and think that ‘Sure that’s simple, WE ALL KNOW THAT’, and you would be right, but have you ever actually tried it?
Or do you always go for the extreme ‘quick fixes’ that always fail?
If you focus on the process you will always have ‘mini-wins’ that will lead you to your outcome.
Can you drink water every day for a week?
Yes? Congratulations, you have just had a mini accomplishment.
Can you do some sort of physical activity 3 days per week?
Yes? Congratulations, you have just had another mini-win.
With each ‘mini win’ that you have you are increasing your feeling of self-belief and your belief that you can actually accomplish that goal.
With process goals we want to win early and win often.
This will keep us on track and keep us moving towards our larger goal.
The easier we can make the process for ourselves, the better able we will be to stick to the task at hand.
There is a great quote by Henry David Thoreau
“Things do not change; We change”.
I honestly think that people miss this simple point, we have to change, in order to get change.
If we don’t, we will always be in the same situation.
I know the thought of it can be uncomfortable and sometimes scary, but change doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Setting out a clear process that will let you have small accomplishments every few weeks, will keep your motivation high, but more importantly it will keep your sense of self-worth and self-belief high and this will ultimately lead to your success.
So, when putting your goals for 2019 into your Sat Nav, make sure you plan the full journey and not just the end point.
There is less chance of getting lost along the way and you will actually reach your destination.
#leanin2019
If you don’t know how you would put this together to suit you, we teach you this in our NEW LEAN IN 2019 program.
We had members lose over 4 stone in 2018 and they now know how to keep it off.
If you want to make a real difference to your weight and health this January, drop me a message and we can make 2019 your year.
#leanin2019
https://www.rushefitness.ie/class/lean-in-2019-gym-plan/
The Author
