Does it seem that you find yourself setting New Years resolutions every year and yet be caught in the same vicious circlecome next year writes personal trainer in Dublin John Lark. Here is how tobreak the mould and actually get where you need to go.
It seems everywhere I look the word‘resolution’ is staring me in the face.
Billboards, articles, magazines, the latestweight loss success story from a celebrity who will inevitably pile it all backon in within months and all the other avenues.
Here it is – never set a resolution. Youwill fail. All they are are lofty dreams without any plan of action.
I hate to be a kill-joy but this is whathappens.
“This year I will watch my weight”
Great – how, what, when, where?
“This year I will definitely start abusiness”
Great – how , what, when, where?
“This year I will watch what I eat and losea stone”
Great – how, what, when, where?
You can see where this is heading.
With a little dissection you have a loftyambition or a dream, a vision that you have created in your mind. Perhaps ithas been moulded by what you have seen, done or previously felt or achieved.
This year will be the year. This is themoment that it all happens and suddenly Rocky steps out of the picture to thesound of Eye of the Tiger.
But there is where the good bit starts andends.
Get your resolution and swap that word to a‘goal with a specific plan of action matched clearly with specific behavioursthat will align you with success.
And then write it down. Behavioural studieshave demonstrated that this simple act will increase your likelihood ofachieving them dramatically.
You can see what I use and how I teach thisover at my free community (healthcamp.ning.com).
I like this act of writing them down as ago to when the going gets tough. Every day check in on this list of goals toremind yourself what you need to DO to get it right.
Health and fitness doesn’t come easy. If itdid all of us would be walking round with six packs. And no there isn’t a magicbullet.
What you MUST do is align your purpose or‘why’ with your goal. Why are you doing this? Why are you going to give upsugar, alcohol or processed foods. It is because they make you feel like crapand the last time that you felt crap you snapped at your kids as a result?
Most of us do not align what we eat withour resultant behaviours. Well folks start seeing the patterns and it will makecompliance a lot easier. If you want to feel depressed, angry, upset,vulnerable and for some suicidal keep eating the junk and lo and behold youwill begin to tick the boxes.
Easier to find a why now – isn’t it?
So if your resolution is to lose weight forthe New Year firstly set a goal.
“I will lose 14 lbs by the end of Januarycome what May”
Then find your why.
This is important to me because I want tofeel better (too woolly – be more specific), I feel lousy all the timer (warmer– dig deeper), I was laughed at as a kid (now we sucking diesel), I love thefeeling of bouncing out of bed in the morning as it will give me the energy,drive and focus to excel at my job leading to more money for us as a family –what’s more I will have more than enough energy to deal with my children andeven remove my wild hormonal swings that I get at least twice a week. I amfrightened of the cancer that inflicted my mother at such an early age.(bingo).
Then list what you need to do in terms ofspecific behaviours.
For example – I will hit up the gym 3 times per week, Iwill ditch coffee, wheat, processed foods, dairy and sugar for the first 30days. I will walk every morning for 30 minutes. I will have a breakfast everymorning.
These actions are the doing bit and are alot more specific to the nitty gritty of getting stuff done rather than stayingin the background of your consciousness.
I am by no means a behavioural scientistbut I know what it takes to get stuff done and make resounding change inpeople’s health and fitness. What is to say you can’t apply this technique toanything else in your life.
Dream about it by all means. And dream big– so big that it scares you. But then actually do something about it.
Downloadyour free T2H Nutrition Plan at https://www.spherefitnessstudio.com
JohnLark is owner of Sphere Fitness Group and a personal trainer in Dublin
