Why New Year’s Resolutions Never Work
There are 3 simple steps for you to fix this.
What do you wish for in the New Year?
Maybe you want to be prettier, smarter or more interesting.
Maybe you have really specific goals like losing 40 pounds by March 1st.
You realize it is December 1st now. You have one month to mentally prepare for your goal. Maybe you go window shopping for outfits you can wear when you become slimmer. You get excited for starting on January 1st and the promise of a new life to yourself.
You tell yourself it will be different this time.
You will lose weight and you will look amazing.
This time you are not messing around.
Then, January 1st comes around. You are feeling pumped. You enroll in the gym and workout for a whole hour. You are doing amazing. Tired, sweaty but amazing. You never worked so hard in your life. You go home that day and feel accomplished.
Next day, you wake up aching all around. You don’t even want to get up anymore. You manage to go to the mirror and check yourself out. You don’t see any difference. You ask yourself “What was the point of working out so hard if it wasn’t going to do anything?”. You feel disappointed and tired. You realize this will be harder than you imagined.
It takes two days for all the pain to go away. You say you’ll go to the gym after work. Instead you go out for drinks with coworkers to celebrate Dave’s birthday. You think to yourself “Work was tough and one must take a break.”
It is Friday now. Work has been hard this week. You’ve been sleeping less and munching a lot more on junk food and those late night desserts. You think to yourself, “Alright, I’ll go to the gym tomorrow since it is the weekend.”.
Yup, it is Saturday now. You finally end up going to the gym but you are really feeling tired. You are not feeling it and you barely workout at the gym. You go home and look in the mirror. You think to yourself, “Today is not my day. I haven’t even lost a pound and gained like three in the last week. I will never be able to lose any weight, let alone lose 40 pounds by March 1st.”
It is the first week of the New Year and you already feel defeated.
This year is already off to a bad start.
There is always next year if anything.
…or there is still time and you could try harder.
You could make that 40 pounds goal by March if you really focused on it.
You could start with dropping that negative self-talk.
#1: Stop with the negative self-talk
We all have shortcomings. Nobody is perfect. Unless it helps you achieve your goal, you need to stop self sabotaging. You could even lie to yourself if that helps with your confidence. Because believing in yourself is half the battle. Because nobody else will do it. Imagining yourself being the future self that you want to become is the trick. If I am already healthy and slim, I must keep up my shape. I cannot let myself slip up.
How do I do this?
By eating healthy, sleeping enough and going to the gym regularly. Follow good habits and soon enough your body has to follow your mind to become your best self. Because you are already your best self.
#2: Stop making excuses and start now
You say you’ll start tomorrow, over the weekend, maybe next week or even next year. You skip one day and think it is over. Well, it is not. Stop making excuses and thinking about doing it, and actually do it. Go to the gym everyday no matter what. Make it part of your life. Go for five minutes. Who cares if you work out or not. Just show up and check it off your to-do list for the day.
Sooner or later you’ll realize there is no escaping this. Because you have to show up, you’ll have to do something with your time. This means you’d actually start working out even if you don’t really feel it.
It is much like showing up for work. We don’t always feel it either but we show up because we tell ourselves we have to. Then, you end up working because you showed up. You could have called out because you are tired but you didn’t. It is the same thing.
#3: Don’t focus on immediate results
So what, you gained three extra pounds yesterday?
You just have to work a bit harder then. Maybe add an extra half hour to your workout today. Our weights fluctuate daily anyways. A few extra pounds is not the end of the world. And if it really bothers you, maybe try sticking to healthy eating next time. Remember how it feels to not be your best self. Well not anymore, you are your best self now.
Everyday, remind yourself of how amazing you are and write down what you accomplished on that day. Write down both your long term and short term goals. Cross things off your to-do list. Workout, measure, count and enter. And just keep adding.
One day at a time.
If you skip workout for one day — for whatever reason — write it down too. Write down how it feels. Words have power.
Use that power to achieve your goals and be kind to yourself.
Conclusion
Remember those three simple steps to continue being your best self:
- Stop with the negative self-talk
- Stop making excuses and start now
- Don’t focus on immediate results
Keep following these steps and soon enough you’ll realize you are already in beast mode. You will realize the impact of your daily actions and thoughts on your long term goals.
Maybe you already lost those ten pounds last month without even focusing on it so much. You’ve just been working out everyday, eating healthy and reducing stress. Nothing special there.
Or maybe you just added another three pounds from last night. Everyone slips up sometimes.
You’ll just have to work harder. That’s all.
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