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Health & Wellness

2013-03-25 15:44:56

Remember that New Year’s resolution you made?

Q-This is the time of year when my resolution has kind of gone out the door. How can I get back the motivation?

A-It's April already and ”What was it that I said in January that I was going to do different this year?” Is that gym membership burning a hole in your pocket? New Year's Resolutions in April...where did they go? Statistics show that about half of you have already given up on your New Year’s resolution. In another few weeks, half of the people left will have forgotten all about it as well. For those of you that are still doing the deal, hold your head high because you are one of the few. If your New Year’s Resolution has fizzled out, don't beat yourself up! You’re not alone! Instead of getting down and thinking of this as a failure, you need to figure out why it happened in the first place. Learn from what went wrong and start over with your goals and desires. The following is a list of reasons why your New Year’s resolution might have failed and how to succeed 1. A resolution is just a GOAL. Treat it like a goal. You need motivation but that motivation comes from a reason and that reason produces goals. More importantly, WHY? Why are your goals important? What is the true reason you want to get healthy? Dig deep for your 'why'. Why do you NEED to lose weight and get healthy? Write it down. Put it up all around the house as little reminders to keep you motivated. It is key to your success. Your true 'why' will attach you to your goals and you will be more likely to achieve them. 2. You didn't plan for the set backs and obstacles when you started. There are always obstacles and without a plan they can kill your resolution. We all fail. You need a clearly defined plan for what to do when this happens. Recognize that things will get hard and unexpected obstacles will get the better of you. Learn from them. Decide to step over them. Remember your reason why and don't let it become the excuse. Give yourself some leeway. Forgive yourself and continue on. 3. Friends and family are important. With any goal, it’s important to surround yourself with people who believe in what you’re doing and want to see you succeed. If they are not supportive then keep them at a distance. Accountability is huge. To have someone who is in the same boat and trying to do the same thing as you is supportive. You don't want to fail each other, and you can build each other up. Someone to hold you accountable will help extinguish the saboteur in your head. They keep you on task and acknowledge your accomplishments as well as helping you not to focus on your mistakes. 4. Sometimes we take on too much. We want to make huge leaps in progress overnight but real growth is slow and steady. Take it a step at a time, with reasonable expectations. Be patient. Its not about how much and how quickly, but WHAT you achieve. Put one foot in front of the other, focus on your goal and momentum will build as you make incremental steps toward it. 5. We can be afraid of success because we think it will eventually lead to failure. A lot of goals sound great but once you actually start thinking of what life will be like once it's accomplished, fear can set in. Sometimes we are so attached to who we are and life as we know it, flaws and all, we unconsciously sabotage ourselves. Fear is just part of the process. We can all push ourselves beyond our preconceived limits. Instead of fear becoming an obstacle, use it to empower you and reach your goals. Prove to yourself that you can. Realign your goals and your reason why. Get back on that treadmill. Revamp your pantry and start again for YOU! You are awesome and worth it. Don't give up on yourself!