I’m sure you’ll agree that New Year’s resolutions are easy to make…that’s not the hard part. The hard part is actually taking action and making it stick.
Am I right?
A new year is exciting! A clean slate is full of possibilities; an opportunity to recommit to your health, maybe lose some weight, get into better shape, eat better, sleep better…
Health and fitness goals are usually on everyone’s list, especially after eating and drinking just a little too much over the holidays. Focusing on our health just feels right.
If only we could keep this feeling of excitement and motivation going past the first week of January!
You may recognize this scenario: You hit the gym 3 times the first week of January, you cook healthy meals all week, maybe even a few weeks and then…You get busy with work, you get busy with life and suddenly your new goals are on the bottom of your priority list.
So what can you do differently this year so that life doesn’t get in the way? Well there’s is no way unless you stop letting it.
Like Gabrielle Bernstein says: Energy flows in the direction where my attention and intention goes.
The only way to make real change is to make room for change in our life and shift where our energy flows.
The other big reason that we often fail on our goals, especially weight loss goals, is that they are often coming from a place of self loathing and not self love.
If you always let life get in the way, it’s a definite sign that you missed two very important steps in goal setting: a) You did not set goals that were specific or meaningful and most importantly came from a place of self love, and b) You did not identify the things that always get in your way, and shift your attention towards what you want.
Let me give you an example of the typical new year’s resolutions:
You make a list of all the things you want to achieve and change the coming year. Among them were eat better and lose 15 pounds.
And that’s. Nothing else, no plan on how to execute and certainly no real reasons as to why you want to achieve either of those things. While it’s great to want to lose weight, it’s not specific or meaningful to motivate you when things get tough.
Your goal should excite you and motivate you when you read it, otherwise it’s just a wish, and we all know that magic isn’t real, we need to make things happen by putting our energy into something specific.
Here’s some simple yet powerful tips:
1) Get as specific as possible by asking why you want to achieve your goal several times, until you arrive to a place that feels exciting for you. Dig as deep as possible in this first step.
For example:
I want to lose 15 pounds.
Why?
Because I deserve to be healthier this year, I want to feel young and energetic no matter what my age is. I want to be more confident in my job, be a more energetic partner and parent.
Why?
I am sick of being tired of putting everyone else first, I want to be in control of my health and feel great in my body.
2) Next as yourself when. By When do you want to lose the weight? We as humans need timelines, otherwise we’ll put it off and put it off. Example: I want to lose 15 pounds by March 1st.
3) If you want to prevent yourself from feeling completely overwhelmed, you need to ask yourself How? Scheduling and planning things out may seem restrictive, but in reality it allows us for much more freedom. But don’t forget to be Realistic, otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure.
This is an example of a How that is Realistic: I will go to bed by 9:30pm so that I can wake up at 5:30am and make it to a class before work three days a week. The other days I will walk after work or play sports with my kids. Every Sunday schedule to buy groceries in the am and and prep my meals for the week in the afternoon.
4) Since we are or own worst critics, we need to be able to Measure our progress, otherwise you won’t really know where you’re at. This can look like weighing yourself weekly, taking progress photos or taking measurements.
5) What you do first thing in the morning will set the tone for the rest of your day, so
begin your day by reading your goal and take 5-10 minutes in the morning to meditate or pray and practice gratitude for my body.
6) Identify the things that will likely stand in my way of achieving your goals, and what you will have a plan of what to do to prevent them from steering you of course. Examples of the things we use as excuses are work, our kids, lack of time, family and social commitments. We can prevent these excuses by first letting the people in our life know about our goals, having a schedule when we do things and planning.
Hope this helps you set some awesome goals for the New Year!
Here’s to making 2019 your best year ever!
With love,
Daniela Nahas
P.S – If you don’t want to go at it alone this new year join our 42 Day Challenge – You’ll get awesome workouts, a meal plan, accountability and support!
Help your friends and family set some awesome 2019 goals and share this post with them!
