3 Steps to Succeed With ANY Resolution

Happy New Years, Boston!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready for another happy, healthy and successful year!With all the excitement and work going into opening First Guess Fitness, Lindsay and I decided to keep it low key this New Years Eve and reflect on all the things we accomplished last year.  Between getting married, me leaving my job to start the business, and Lindsay finishing her masters and now our new adventure with First Guess Fitness we felt we deserved a night out indulging in some oysters.  Lots of them!

We decided not to make any resolutions since 9 times out of 10 people make them and give up a week later.  We just promised ourselves that we would work towards making AMP the best training facility in Boston and still make time for each other throughout the year.  Yay date nights, we’ll need em!

Before you make a new resolution for 2014 it will make all the difference in the world to take a step back and look at the ones you may have failed before moving forward.

  • Was it fear?
  • Lack of resources?
  • Not enough effort?
  • Not enough preparation?
  • Not enough support?

1. Make mistakes.  Make lots of them.  Just learn from them.

It is okay if you failed in the past.  Hey, that’s life.  Failure is all part of the process and sometimes breeds the greatest success.  But the difference between constantly failing and moving towards success is not making the same mistakes you have made in the past.  Heck, I’m not the smartest of our species and make plenty of mistakes.  Daily.  Just ask my wife. 🙂

If you failed to gain strength and get fit what got in your way?

If you failed to lose fat, what were the obstacles that stopped you?

Asking yourself these questions has both the benefit of reflecting on your past mistakes and also analyzing  your current habits to help you succeed.

2. Set realistic expectations and achieve them by any means necessary!

Notice how I didn’t say low or high expectations.  Just realistic.

During the first session with a new client I am always straight forward and honest with what their expectations should be.  This will not only help them achieve greater success but will show them that they can be accountable for their own results.

The first things to understand are:

  • Magazine models and celebrities are NOT the norm.  They are paid to look like that.
  • Not everyone is physically gifted, some DO have to work harder than others.  Everyone will get different results and people have different body types.  This is okay.
  • It is possible for ANYONE to get awesome results whether it is strength or fat loss.  You just have to make sure you are consistent with the right program.

Once you have set your expectations, make a plan of action.  If it doesn’t work, make another one.  Exhaust every option until you succeed.  Then set new expectations.

During this process, though, expect to have ups and downs.  Understanding that progress isn’t always linear is key to not hitting a low and stressing yourself out.  You should NOT be at the mercy of your emotions.

3. Keep yourself accountable.

One trick I learned from my wife is to journal.  It not only helps you to keep yourself accountable but it also allows you to reflect and take a more objective look at your actions.  For some people, this will be key to succeeding.

Whether you like using a pen and paper, or using a blog to write your thoughts down, the idea is the same.  Keep a journal entry of your actions, emotions and thoughts of important moments in your process and save them for later introspection.  (Do I get extra points for using a big word?)

From what I have found with my clients, this step works wonders for both exercise and nutrition goals especially because it shows you instantly what you can improve upon.  Your weaknesses will stick out like a sore thumb making it easier for you to spot them and attack there.

If you are more into tracking than journaling, there are many fitness and nutrition apps to allow you to do this.   Here are two to check out:

Fitocracy

MyCalorieTracker

There you have it.  Use this process to reflect on your past goals and achieve them all in 2014 and beyond!

And remember this as we enter 2014…