New Years Resolutions – New You – Better You

The New Year is slowly nearing, and with the holiday season almost over, many people are thinking of making changes and re-evaluating some of their lifestyle choices by making fitness resolutions. We folk here at Matrix Fitness are no different!

New Year’s resolutions are the perfect opportunity to start making changes and put those changes into practise. However according to the time management firm FranklinCovey one third of those making resolutions, don’t make it past January alone…’Oh no’ we hear!

A lot of these resolutions fail because they’re not the right resolutions and a resolution may be wrong for one of three main reasons:

• It’s a resolution created based on what someone else (or society) is telling you to change.
• It’s too vague.
• You don’t have a realistic plan for achieving your resolution.

First things first, your goals should be SMART. That’s an acronym coined in the journal Management Review in 1981 for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. It may work for management, but it can also work in setting your health and fitness resolutions, too. Here’s how:

Men’s Health says..

The common resolution people many say is: “I’m going to eat healthier.”

But that’s not Specific. It would be better to say: “I’m going to have at least two pieces of fruit a day and eat a salad before every dinner.” That’s specific.

Why it works:

Picking one or two things to focus on is much more realistic than changing your entire diet—and telling yourself when you’re going to incorporate these changes during your day makes it more attainable, says Gans. Plus, focusing on what you should be eating helps you avoid a restrictive “I can’t eat that” mind-set, which often just leads to a junk food binge.

Another common resolution is: “I’m going to lose weight in the new year.”

The Measurable and Timely resolution would be: “I will lose 15 pounds by July 2018, and I will do so by working out three days a week whilst also reducing my food intake to 1,500 calories per day.” and this in turns helps make it more Achievable.

You can set ambitious goals, but by making sure that you break down the goals into achievable steps they become easier and you are more likely to achieve them. For example: if you need to lose 100 pounds but haven’t had success with losing more than 20, then make yourself an attainable goal of losing 15 pounds. You can lose additional weight by setting a new goal once you reach your initial “success measurement” of 15 pounds. Giving yourself the ability to meet your lofty goals in a piecemeal manner helps you avoid discouragement along the way.

Also don’t forget that Realistic goals aren’t just those goals that you’re able to attain; rather, they’re the goals that you’re willing to attain. For example, if you’re absolutely fed up with stepping on and off the bathroom scale, but you don’t want to do the work to actually lose weight, then don’t set the goal. It will only lead to discouragement. You can pick up the goal when you’re ready to pursue it and have the ability to do so. Another alternative is to word the goal in a way that you feel excited about. For instance, instead of setting a goal of losing 15 pounds, set a goal of going the gym twice a week. It’s your goal, and you can do whatever you want with it.

Whatever you decide, we say, choose a goal that matters to you, ensure your goals have a positive spin, don’t be deterred by setback, ensure your goal is SMART and that you know the type of goal and how that will affect the outcome.

If your goal is to do with fitness you really can achieve anything you want. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish, be courageous, be strong, be clever, be confident in your own ability, be the hardest working person in the room and you will be awesome.

No matter how you fit fitness into your life, our comprehensive collection of resources can help you achieve more than you ever imagined. Matrix Learning Centre.

Good luck and Happy New Year. Here’s to a happy, healthy and fitter 2018!