Happy New Year!
I am more than excited to be coming back off a not-so-scheduled holiday hiatus, but I am itching to write again, but first wanted to check in to take a quick minute to talk about where I think a lot of people fail in their attempts to make resolutions.
Did you write your resolutions for the year? Or if not, did you come up with any goals that you want to reach?
Before you start chugging along the new year hoping that by December 31 you can say that you can check those things off the list, there is one thing that you must do in order for any of them to be successful. It does not matter if your goal is to eat more healthy meals at home or to drop a clothing size or add 50# to your deadlift. You can resolve to get in the gym four times a week or eat more vegetables or finally get that pull-up. But while some of those can be achieved on accident, there is one resolution that needs to be made first.
That’s it.
Make one big resolution to plan.
Set a plan to work towards your resolutions and to reach those goals and even if you may not achieve the exact end result you are looking for, you at least then know that you did everything possible to work towards it.
Striving to eat healthier meals? Create a meal plan, grocery list, and take the time to prep some foods ahead of time so it is easier to put together meals during the week.
Hoping to improve your push-ups? Use an app like 100 pushups or schedule a set number of reps to do each day and log your results.
Resolving to stretch more? Reserve half an hour each day to dedicate to stretching. If you have time to sit and watch TV, you can easily check this off the list at the same time.
Do not get discouraged if you falter and do not get upset if you stray from the plan, but at least have the plan in place to guide you back to reaching your goals!
Your turn..
Do you set resolutions or goals for the new year?
Do you have a plan in place to help you reach those?
Fantastic advice!
I’ve decided 2014 is going to be the best year yet and I will be making my plan later this evening – my goals will include… writing, illustrating and publishing a storybook for my children and competing in my first body-building contest!
Have you made any?
Emily recently posted..Taking on the fit life
Awesome goals!!
I don’t have any clear ones written down yet.. but this was my way of reminding myself not to just set lofty things and get mad about not reaching them.. without having any plan to do it 😉
Ever-since that Sprint commercial started (REVOLUTION) I can’t stop saying revolution instead of resolution. LOL
My resolution is to take the time with loved ones. WITHOUT distractions.
-Cell phone is not allowed in the living room after dinner/before bed.
-Tell people ‘I love you’ more
And keep an attitude of gratitude. Saying thank you goes a long way!
I went back to see what I wrote last year about this, found these:
http://dreamchoosers.com/2013-goals/
http://dreamchoosers.com/s-m-a-r-t-goals/
http://dreamchoosers.com/darren-hardy-day-9/
xoxoxoxoxox me
Sandy Shepard recently posted..So . . . did I talk about the “waterboarding” a/k/a Body Composition Analysis? And the Chippen-Fro-Ryan-Spice “How cookies are like men in your fridge” rant . . .
Great advice. I have a list of goals planned for 2014. One is to finally get back into a Paleo lifestyle. I failed before due to lack of planning. This time I have a weekly menu plan and a shopping list.
Kristina Walters @ Kris On Fitness recently posted..New Year New Goals – Happy 2014!
The food part is soooo much easier when you plan! If I don’t meal prep, I either end up not eating enough or just eating very unbalanced meals of whatever I can scrounge up. Good luck!!
Twitter: inmyheadspace
January 2, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Great advice Jen and welcome back :0)
When my husband asked when we are going food shopping ( yes, we do this together most weeks) I tell him he needs to help me with a menu for the nights we are home because I am NOT going to store without a plan anymore. We end up wasting so much food that way! I will write the menu and post it on the fridge too so that there is no question as to what I will be making when I get home. Now, food prep is another issue… I don’t like most foods when they are reheated. This is something I am working on :0)
I don’t do resolutions, because I inevitably forget all about them by the time February rolls around! But, a few years ago, my box posted a link to a Word Of The Year (WOTY) journaling activity that is AWESOME! It walks you through choosing a word, then asks really thought provoking questions, like ‘how do you already live this word?’ ‘what are 5 habits that keep you from living your word?’ ‘what are 5 ways to diffuse your triggers that keep you from living this word?’ Anyway, it’s amazing and each year I put my new WOTY on my phone’s home screen, but it’s really the journaling activity and putting much more thought into my habits, and the WHY’s behind them that helps the most.
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Twitter: fatgirlhealthy
January 2, 2014 at 9:46 pm
This is really great advice. If you are going to have goals you MUST have a plan. I just blogged about a different approach I’m going to try this year. Instead of resolutions and goals, I’m going to have a area of focus. We shall see how the experiment goes…
mandy @ fatgirlgonehealthy recently posted..No Resolutions. No Goals. What the hell am I doing?
Love this!! You can make a bazillion goals but if you don’t create a plan, you will never reach them!
Cori recently posted..CONTEST!!! – Let Me Help You Achieve Your New Years Resolutions
I don’t make New Year resolutions, but have a big list of things to do in my life and check them off the list. Once you write them down and look at them often, you start working on them 😉
Thanks for the reminder, Jennifer!
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Twitter: Mychickenbutt
January 5, 2014 at 1:46 am
I forget where I read this, but “a goal without a plan is just a wish.” While I’m too old and always in the throes of some sort of elaborate goal for New Years resolutions, I admire those who are starting fresh. Excellent tips!
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January 26, 2014 at 10:26 pm
So its not official since I haven’t invested registration money into it yet….BUT I’ll be turning 26 this fall. And since I seem to be stable with keeping my injuries at bay, my goal for this year (not a resolution) is to run my first Marathon. Since I’ll be moving to Sacramento (more on that in my blog in a month!) I’d like to do the California International Marathon early December. I’ll actually be about 26.3 yrs old, so its pretty fitting! Plus I’ll have a real job and can afford to sign up for a 3 month local training program too! Other than that I still just need to finish my Masters in the next couple months!
Nicole recently posted..Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend: Tinker Bell 10k Recap
This is an AWESOME tip. Step one is to plan. If we don’t make the plan, we can’t succeed at our goals. Love it. Thank you so much for putting this together and reminding us what we need to do to achieve our goals.
Glad to have found you through SITS. ~Jenna
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