If you’re like approximately 50% of Americans, you’ll be making some health or fitness related resolutions to begin the New Year. However, according to a new study, shockingly only 8% of people actually achieve their resolutions!
So, what gets in the way and how can you be one of those successful 8%?
Many of us are our own worst enemies. We often have great intentions to get things done, but then the ugly head of self-sabotage and negative beliefs rear their ugly head and just derail our BIG plans! So WE get in our OWN way! So how do you know that you’re on your way to creating failure instead of success?? Here are some red flags:
Top 5 RED FLAGS
Your behavior doesn’t match your goal
You are comfort eating when stressed
Procrastination: Waiting until the “later” or “tomorrow” that never comes
Making excuses/reasons for not sticking to your plan
You have NO plan for HOW you are going to do it
Get Over Your SELF & Create Health and Fitness Success!
Recognize the emotional triggers that start you sabotaging yourself. So is it a stressful day at work, a disagreement with a relative, friend or spouse or disappointments that have you start comfort eating, procrastinating, and doubting yourself?? Write down what gets in the way.
Pay attention to how the “I’m not good enough” demon shows up in your life and HOW you then sabotage yourself when it does.
Use healthy strategies for coping with stress and disappointments. Deep breathing exercises, journaling, focusing on gratitude, and exercising are much healthier than using food or alcohol to cope.
Replace excuses and “I’m not good enough” with positive self-talk Speak to your SELF with loving, kind, compassionate words. If you don’t know how, write down 10 positive phrases and repeat them till they are committed to memory.
Believe in yourself If you don’t believe you can…you won’t! You have to believe in your ability to accomplish your goal, especially when setbacks happen.
Have a support system to help you stay accountable to your goals and to make exercising and being healthy more enjoyable. Have a friend or trainer to exercise with, enlist a friend or family member to help you plan and create healthy meals.
Be explicit with your goal Write down very specific short and long-term goals. Make them tangible, realistic, and give yourself a time frame. So instead of saying “I want to lose weight and get fit” write down, “I want to lose 10 lbs so I can wear this great bikini to the beach on my summer vacation in July”.
Create a plan for HOW you plan to achieve your goals. Break them into smaller measurable pieces that will help you get to your end goal. And Keep It Simple! If you are just starting out, don’t make it too complicated or you are not likely to keep doing it when the novelty wears off.
Take Action Commit to being an action taker…no matter what! Decide that you will DO something every single day to improve your health in some way.
Track your progress Decide what you want to track, whether it’s weight or fat lost, increase in strength and stamina, or cholesterol level. But whatever it is, you must have a way of checking your progress so you know whether or not you are staying on track.
