We hate to spoil it for you, but New Year Resolutions almost never make the cut. Luckily, with some adjustments we can turn them into long term plans and we can set ourselves up for success. Ready? Let’s get it! We hate to spoil it for you, but New Year Resolutions almost never make the cut. Why? They are often unrealistic (too much too soon), short term focused and why are we waiting until the 1st of January to make the change? Luckily, with some adjustments we can turn them into long term plans and we can set ourselves up for success. Ready? Let’s get it! New Year Resolutions can be extremely powerful if only….they worked. They don’t fail because they’re intricately bad resolutions. They fail because they are short sighted. “Im going to start a new diet in January”, “I will never miss a class in 2021”, “I will lose 5kg in one month”, “I will handstand walk by February”. These are all great scenarios, unfortunately they all have some flaws. Lacking a real plan, feeding on a burst of motivation which is not going to last, or based on drastic quick changes in your lifestyle which instead can take years to modify. Let’s be real. All good resolutions need three things: preparedness, consistency and long term commitment. PREPAREDNESS We need to be prepared to change. Setting up to change our mindset from one day to the other is not going to happen, otherwise everyone would do it and wouldn’t wait until the beginning of the new year to do so. Being READY to change means being willing to change for a specific reason. Which is YOUR reason? “I want to lose 5kg and maintain my weight to feel better and fitter when I run the marathon next year”, “I want to learn how to handstand to join the Open in the RX division in February” If you can not find YOUR reason behind your resolution, but you’re just following someone’s else dream or benchmark, then your resolution is doomed from the start. Find YOUR WHY and your resolution will start taking up a more concrete shape. CONSISTENCY As boring as it sounds, consistency is the key. We all love the initial burst of motivation that fires up our souls and get us started in the pursue of our resolutions. The problem is, motivation dies off as fast as it sprouts. While motivation will make you smash the first few weeks, consistency will keep you going through the first difficulties and beyond. “To lose 5kg before the marathon next year I need to consistently go to the gym 3 times a week and run twice a week. I also need to gradually cut out added sugars from my diet and only eat out once a week” Knowing HOW to reach your goal and WHAT to do to get you there is what will help you plan your year and break it down into smaller steps til the finer details. Once you know HOW and WHAT, you will find it easier to be committed to your plan every single day. Motivation will die off eventually while consistency will keep you going, creating long lasting habits. LONG-TERM COMMITMENT In order for you to reach your resolutions, you need a long-term plan. “Too fast and too soon” goals are not going to happen. We typically overestimate our ability to get where we want. Think of today: how many plans are you going to postpone until tomorrow because you overbooked yourself? What we all need is to break down our big resolution into smaller achievable steps, make it sustainable in the long period. “I want to lose 5kg before the Marathon in March. I am going to lose 1kg every 2 weeks and maintain my final weight for the final 2 weeks before the Marathon” This resolution is more attainable because you have smaller goals to achieve every 2 weeks (you can even break it down in smaller steps, i.e. losing 0.5kg every week for 3 months) and it’s not too fast, too soon. You give yourself 3 months to lose 5kg which is a very sustainable goal. It’s this simple. Long term commitment not only set you up for success, but also make it easier to follow through your newly created habits after you reach your goal. You’ve reached and maintained your healthy weight for the Marathon. What stops you now from keeping up the good work and maintain those healthy nutrition habits you put in place? NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS RELOADED Don’t get us wrong, we’re all about setting up goals for yourself and see you succeeding. So what about all your dreamy resolutions for the new year? Take them one by one and analyse them. Make sure the three key elements to success are there: preparedness, consistency and long term commitment. Find your why, set up a long-term plan, break it down into smaller steps, create daily habits and commit to them. Last but not least, surround yourself by people who believe in you. We at CrossFit Pretoria wish you will reach all your amazing goals in the New Year. Not so simple? We’d love to help you! Come and have a chat with us about your New Year Resolutions and let’s make them real! Article by Andfit www.andfit.co.za
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCrossFit Pretoria Archives
April 2023
Categories
All
|