The Daunting New Year’s Resolution
By: Sean Wells
What is your New Year’s Resolution? How many times do you think you will be asked this question in the upcoming weeks?
In regards to nutrition and fitness we all have goals we want to achieve. For some reason we wait until the start of a new year to begin to either hit the gym, try a new fad diet, or whatever it may be. Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute. Most of us will have a New Year’s Resolution, some of us may even start our resolution, majority of us will either not start or will quit after a couple weeks on the longer side.
Drill Down
The reason that New Year’s Resolutions seem to always fail is because their importance is lacking. Or they are too vague and too large. Your resolution starts with “I will” then “I want” then “I’ll try”. Your goals are important. But, maybe we need to do some prioritizing prior to taking on a momentous life altering goal.
Instead of starting your New Year’s resolution with something such as “I want to lose 20lbs this year”, or “I want to be more fit” this year, try giving yourself smaller specific goals that all lead to the same end goal. “I will go to the gym three times a week”, that is a good, manageable goal, and alongside that give yourself another smaller manageable goal, “I will remove wheat products from my daily diet”, with those two smaller goals, they come together to help manage your larger goal of losing 20 lbs. Some people are an all or nothing type, and they will dive head first into their goals and start tackling the mountain head on, but for most of us, starting by hiking the foothills, then establishing a base camp, then climbing little by little over time is the best approach.
Small Goals
Setting smaller goals over time that all coincide with your larger overall goal, is not only more manageable, and easier to keep you focused because you will always be seeing results and changes, but it is also healthier. When it comes to things such as nutrition and diets, making small gradual changes towards weight loss or weight gain is a must if we are to maintain our results and the outcomes we are working towards.
When it comes down to your New Year’s Resolution this year, instead of setting one massive goal that you seem to always start, but never finish. First set that larger goal. Then set three smaller goals that all lead to you accomplishing the larger goal.
BIG GOAL:
Take part in my first triathlon
Timeline = 6 months
Small goals leading to my overall goal: Swim 1x a week. Bike 1x a week. Running 1x a week.
Start
By setting these smaller goals, we can measure progress. Watch progress happen monthly, weekly or even daily leading up to our big goal. This helps keep us focused, and on track to crush whatever goal we set for ourselves this coming year.
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