Not Just Another New Year's Resolution

How many of us made 10-12 goals/resolutions in January, and one more later have realized that we've already began forgetting to practice what we decided or haven't even started working on set goals?

At the end of a workout class I noticed a friend of mine carry a huge water bottle with February goal marked on it. I asked her what the importance of that bottle was. She stated that she realized she needed to drink more water and decided that every day she wanted to drink 3 of those bottles. This sparked a conversation about resolutions and goals that I decided I wanted to pursue onto a posting.

The myth states that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I honestly don’t know how correct this is, I think it really depends on the person. I know, with my Type A personality, I get really excited about something for about a week, week and ½, hit it hard, and then eventually If I don’t constantly do it, or make it a priority, it quickly fades away and old habits creep up. We seem to really focus on New Year’s Day being the jumping off point for our “new selves, new year” but why does it have to be just that time of the year? I’ve personally realize if you break these down into bite size portions, they’re much easier to achieve, similar to the mental aspect of preparing for one of my races. If at the starting line of a marathon you think ok, only 26.2 miles to finish! I just want to turn around and walk away, heading for the closest doughnut shop. But If I do a little research and find out where all the water stations are (usually every 2-3 miles) it makes it much easier to focus on finishing the race. I try not to think about the finish until mile 20-21. If I do my mind is ready to jump ship. I break it down into little races,

“Alright first 5K, feeling good”…”Alright 10K, let’s do this!” “Half Marathon, good job, keep it up, you can do this!” …”alright 2 miles till I can get a drink”...”woo! Energy shot aid station!”  “Doughnut holes!”…”Alright…legs, I know you’re sore but only a 10K left”….”ugh this will never end…ok..ok..1 more mile till water”…”GATORADE!” …”I think I can I think I can”……” WATER!”…..”5K LEFT 5K LEFT!!!”…WAHH!!! FINISH!! “I AM AWESOME, can I sit down?”  

lol..ok ok I just thought I’d put that in for fun….SO, my point with all this is, perhaps instead of 1 month filled with 10-15 goals…why not 2-3 goals, every month, for a year……..Think how simple that sounds? You can even reward yourself for reaching your goals, if you so choose to. When I started a workout program, last year, I printed out the calendar that came with the kit, and at the end of every 2 weeks that I completed gave myself a reward. Some of those included a new workout top, a sample makeup kit I saw in an advertisement, etc etc. Something small that didn’t involve food lol. We usually set goals or resolutions for fitness, cessation of smoking or drinking, time for ourselves or family, and/or money. We do this for a reason to change a habit we are currently creating by either lack of motivation or lack of time.

Ok, so you’ve picked a goal. For example my resolution for January was to become more efficient with my grocery budget and shopping. I began by setting a budget, continuing my coupon clipping, and comparing my grocers ad to my list of actual groceries. By doing this I came out ahead 3 out of the 4 shopping trips I made and we still had healthy meals. . By doing this we ate out less often. January was also my birthday month, so we used the money we saved, and went out to eat at a very nice restaurant, we wouldn’t have normally gone to, to celebrate my birthday.

            Another thing to remember, always, is KISS- Keep It Simple (Stupid). Make the goals/resolution simple and small. “I want to run a 5K by March” could be seen as kind of overwhelming. You can write that in on your March calendar (Goal number 2-become more efficient with our days together, hence the calendar on the fridge and the planned days off suggestion page) but make steps for the goals themselves. By using the March 5K as an example, make one of January’s goals to find a running training program/schedule online and/or walking 10-15 minutes a day, etc etc. Then February’s goal could be to make a playlist for when you walk/jog with your phone adding on to the schedule you’re following for your 5K schedule, as well as finding some good active shoes. By March you’re ready to tackle that 5K!

Keeping the goals/resolutions as specific as they can be helps tremendously. By saying “My goal is to be able to last an entire Zumba class without feeling like I’m going to pass out.” Is much more achievable than “I want to get fit”. Another example “I want to save enough money to go to Hawaii”, Instead find out how much it cost to fly out there and spend a week, then how long it would take to save up for it week by week, then it could be “I want to save $50 a week so I can go to Hawaii in (Insert number) of months.”

As silly as all this all sounds a lot of people think (including myself)..Ok..”NEW YEAR NEW ME what do I want to change”,. Then after the first week of going back to work/school/ first of the year bills, Life does get in the way and things don’t progress. We feel like we might as well forget it and stop. Life does happen! Bills happen, painful joints happen, kids, family, etc etc, but don’t give up and don’t wait till “next Monday”. If you eat a pretty unhealthy meal for breakfast, and messed up your healthy eating goal, don’t figure you’ve messed up the whole day! You’ve still got 10-11 hours of day left! Redeem your goal/resolution at lunch! If you miss a workout, stretch before bed and try again tomorrow, get right back on that horse.

            I haven’t planned out my year yet, and I’m sure I’ll be adding on here and there when new things come up but here are some of my yearly resolutions/goals:

January- 1. Become more efficient with seeing sites and our days off- Created a calendar, combined all of the work days/days off and made up a things we want to do list.
               2. Attend my fitness center at least twice a week- focusing on at least 1 yoga class a week- Found their class schedule, circled every class I’m interested in going posted it on the fridge. So far So good J
                3. Continue attending Wed, Sat, Sun, Run meetups and Pick up the 10K runs on Wed
                4. Become a certified YBB instructor-Working on my yoga hours to obtain
                5. Finish AFAA Textbook ½-3/4ths way
                6. Set a cash budget for groceries and only us the allotted cash amount

February- 1. Drink/refill my camel back bottle- It goes everywhere with me
                 2. Add a strength training class to my fitness class schedule
                 3. Continue attending Wed, Sat, Sun runs- 10K runs wed and running full distances on Sundays
                 4. Continue yoga classes
                  5. Put myself on an allowance budget
                  6. Finish AFAA textbook, begin review
March
                1. Continue previous month’s goals, tapering weight training
                2. Review and Pass AFAA Group Trainer Certification test
                3. Complete LA Marathon 5K and Marathon!!!!

April       1. Continue previous months goals
               2. Add strength training back to work out regiment once a week
              
            
Those are just an example of some of my goals/resolutions. A lot of them are fairly simple but a lot of them all lead up to a ½ ironman I have coming up in September. When I signed up for it was I was extremely overwhelmed but with more than 6 months to train, if I set goals and followed a schedule I know I will be able to complete it J

I hope you find this post helpful and thought provoking. I know it’s pretty long, but maybe you can start getting ideas and plotting down some new February goals/resolutions. You still have time J
Anyway, as always thanks for reading J