As bon jovi sang oh were halfway there; halfway through 2014 ; halfway through the year already!
Now is a great time to take stock and see how well our new year’s health and fitness resolutions have gone so far.
Are you on course to smash the goals you set or has it been another year were it has tapered off by the end of January? If you are in the later camp, worry not your are not alone, a huge number of us start out the New Year full of ambitions and bursting with motivation only to see it fail and fall by the wayside.
There are generally 3 main reasons why we fail; the lack of a well-structured plan; a lack of knowledge on how to actually achieve the result and finally not having enough accountability to turn up and get it done.
If you can address these three issues now I can guarantee that you can still finish 2014 in brilliant shape and with great health. (just think of that sense of achievement on new year’s eve when you are ticking of each of your goals.)
Ok let’s get cracking on the plan; first things first we must clearly define the destination we want to reach. So write down exactly what you are going to achieve. For example I will be a size 12 by December 31st and I will have a pain free body. List all the reasons why you want to achieve this. Now write down the three big rocks that you must focus on to achieve success. These could be something like; focus on eating a well -balanced diet, stretch daily and limit my alcohol intake.
Get your vision clear in your head and consistently carry out your 3 big rock to guarantee you reach your goals. Aim to really drill your plan down to the specific; what days will you exercise, make a week’s meal plans in advance, schedule in when you are going to have some time off your eating plan etc.
As the saying goes knowledge is power. Too many people try doing the same thing again and again. If it failed you in the past it is likely to fail you again. If you have tried dieting and it has only worked short term you must learn a better way. That means stepping away from diets and learning more about how your body works and what foods work best to promote long term sustainable results. At Get results our aim for every client is to empower them with the knowledge to know and understand how their body works and how to obtain fat loss and optimal health.
Accountability means that there is a consequence if you do not stick to something. This can come in the shape of making yourself accountable to a trainer or arranging to meet a friend at the gym at a certain time.
Or a great way to make you accountable is by stating your goals and plans publicly. People will then question you on how things are going.
Another great tactic to increase accountability I have seen work is well is putting a monetary value on success or failure. Write two cheques (for an amount that is significant to you.) Cheque 1 is written to yourself and you receive it when you achieve your goal (to spend on something that you would really like) and cheque two i s written to someone else. This could be a charity or your significant other (or even someone you really wouldn’t like to give it to).If you fail to achieve your goal the cheque goes to them!
Remember don’t beat yourself up for failing, to be successful we often must fail first. Learn from what has not gone well; think of why it failed and how you can approach it differently.
If you are on track give yourself a massive pat on the back and spend a little time reassessing your goals. Are these still relevant and important to you or do you perhaps have to change them a little set the bar a little higher!!!
Too many people get to this stage in the year and think it is too late to achieve their new year’s resolution . Six months of consistently following your health and fitness will without a shadow of a doubt see you ending 2014 feeling very happy with yourself.
As we said at the start of the year let’s all make 2014 our healthiest and happiest yet.
