Best Fitness’ director of group training Rob Wood wants you to make the most of your New Year’s resolutions. The fitness studio, which recently celebrated one year in Danvers, has locations throughout the Northeast. Here are Wood’s tips for making your New Year’s goals attainable.
As everyone begins 2020, it’s important to take a moment to reflect on this past year. Did you crush your 2019 life-style goals? Well congratulations to the few that did! Maybe you started the year with intentions to achieve a new goal only to have it all fizzle out by spring? Perhaps you didn’t even think of a goal because you’ve failed in the past and just accepted your current state? Well, it’s great to reflect, but now’s the time to get ready for 2020 and as the old cliché goes “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Here are a few tips to ensure that 2020 is the year you take action!
Step 1: Visualize: When you set a goal, you have to see it in your head. What does your goal look like? How does it make you feel? Write the goal down somewhere you can see it each day. Now, hold onto that feeling and image in your mind. That image will become your driving force! To take it one step further, create a vision board of what you are seeking to achieve. A quick Google search will provide you plenty of ideas for vision boards. Not only are you taking the step of recording your goal, but you’ll also have additional images to keep you motivated.
Step 2: Create a Plan: Maybe your goal is to run your first marathon or to lose 50lbs. In order to do so you need to run your first mile or lose your first pound. To achieve this vision, you have to set smaller milestones to help get you there. These goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.) To prepare for a marathon, you’ll need to find a race that will be on a specific date. You then need to build up the distance you run each week, measurable by any fitness tracker. Ensuring that each milestone is attainable but still a challenge will increase the likelihood of succeeding. Write down the plan so you can refer back to it and make changes if needed.
Step 3: Take Action: Nobody but you can take the first step of that first mile or swap the donut for egg whites to lose weight. You will have to make changes and commit to those changes if you want your outcome to be different. Only you can put yourself to bed early to wake up earlier to go for a run, hit the gym, meal plan. Yes, there will be sacrifices and yes it can and will be difficult at times, but nobody said it would be easy. If it were easy, you would have done it already!
Step 4: Record or Journal Your Actions: Recording what you have done and reflecting on the actions you’ve completed will allow you to see what’s working and what needs to be done differently. You wouldn’t keep eating the same foods if you didn’t lose any weight. You wouldn’t go for a run and not record your time or distance. How would you know if you’re getting closer to achieving goal? This is a critical step and most people fail to follow through consistently.
Step 5: Reassess: Have you hit all your milestones or come up short along the way? What do you need to do differently today to keep yourself on track? Are you checking off one milestone after another on your way to success? Are your SMART goals still relevant? Did you under or over estimate your timeline? Can you still visualize your goal? These are important questions to ensure you stay focused on achieving what you set up at the beginning of the year.
Taking these steps are important for achieving any goal in life, whether it’s fitness related, financial, relationship based, or educational. No matter what your 2020 goal is, there are professionals to help guide you and communities that can provide support. Create your vision and get going!