The BEST alternatives to new years resolutions
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Some of you may have decided that this year you wanted to set a new Year’s resolution, some of you may be trying to decide on what new Year’s resolution to set just because you ‘feel that you should’ and some of you may be feeling overwhelmed by all of the things you want to accomplish this year. Some of you may already have broken your resolution...hands up!!!
I’m going to let you in on a secret...I'm not a fan of the concept of new years’ resolutions. Before you shout “but you’re always banging on about goal setting”, let me explain why! The term resolution suggests that there is something wrong with your life that needs resolving and this instantly puts you into a negative mindset at the start of the year – not cool. The resolutions set, often require cutting something out of your life and to do that in one single day is often unrealistic. By the end of January, most people have thrown in the towel and gone back to their usual habits. So you're not on your own if you have already!
Here’s the good part. Instead of new years resolutions, a better option is to create a goals list. This is a fluid list that keeps evolving throughout your life. There is no start date that you’re waiting and waiting and waiting for and if you’re not ready you’ll "start it next year" (sound familiar?).
The time is NOW. Here are a few things to think about when making your goals list:
Instead of thinking about what you’re going to take away from your life, consider what you’re going to add. For example rather that thinking ‘I want to lose weight’ think ‘I want to improve my health’
Be specific with your goal. You might say ‘I want to get fit’. But how do you define fitness? Do you want to lose 2 inches? Do you want to increase your strength to squat 70kg? Do you want to be able to run 5km in under 30 minutes? GET SPECIFIC!
Don’t be unrealistic. You might say ‘I want to quit smoking’. The more you’re told you can’t do something, the more you’ll want to do it. Think ‘naughty inner toddler’! Going ‘cold turkey’ also doesn’t work for everyone, you’re better off slowly weaning down on the cigarettes to prevent relapses and keep motivation high.
Give your goal a timeframe. A year is a very broad timescale and there is also no urgency. Try setting short term goals (<3 months), mid-term goals (6-9 months) and one long term goal (1 year).
Create an action plan. Each goal should have small actionable steps to complete to get you to your end goal.
E.g. Goal: to drop 2 dress sizes.
Action plan: Park the car 2 streets away from work, always take the stairs, have one teaspoon of sugar instead of 2 (all of these should also have timeframes). Trust me…it feels great to tick these off!Reward yourself. I believe you should always reward yourself for achieving your goals as well as feeling personal satisfaction. A treat every now and again won’t hurt your progress in fact, it’s healthy for your mental wellbeing.
Believe that you can. Have you heard that old quote by Henry Ford ’whether you think you can or you can’t - you’re right’. Exactly. Mindset is everything and if you don’t believe that you can then why should anyone else? I want you to imagine what you’ll feel like when you achieve your goal. What will you look like? What will people say to you? What will you be wearing? Who will be with you? How will they feel? Really sit and think about this in as much detail as you can and see yourself in the situation. Do this for 5 minutes every day, either in the morning or before you go to bed. Now stand up and shout “I can do this!”, now sit back down and finish this article.
Expect relapses. Don’t feel guilty for it. Sometimes we all need to eat that slice of chocolate cake. Get back on the horse!
But how do I go about this???
Write it down and pin it somewhere you will see it every day! Remember those SMART targets that they used to make you set in secondary school? They. Are. Everything. And they will change your life!
So what are you waiting for go and grab a pen and start to devise your new years goals list. No more excuses…are you ready to change your life?
Thank you for reading!
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