Resolve to Have Successful Resolutions

Happy New Year!

A new year is time for new beginnings! It is time for a fresh start. Don’t worry if you have attempted the same resolutions every year for the past decade. This is the year that you will achieve your goals!

Use this week to assess where you are and where you want to be. All the mistakes of last year can be forgiven and all the lessons that you learned from those mistakes will be brought forward to help you in the New Year – you did LEARN something from them, didn’t you?

Henry Ford said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”

So let’s begin 2010 more intelligently! Write out your resolutions if you haven’t done that already. They can be general right now because you’ll refine them later.

Where Are You Now?

Sticking to a New Year’s Resolution requires more than just writing it down and a desire to improve. Anything worth doing is worth doing right, and to do it right you need a plan.
You have to know where you ARE, where you WANT TO BE, and how you PLAN to get there. Let’s start with where you ARE.

To know where you are, you need to be measured. What to measure depends on what you resolve to change. If you want to lose weight, you’ll need to measure your current weight, and possibly the circumference of your chest, waist and thighs. If you want to improve your body composition (muscle vs. fat), then you’ll need to measure your current body fat percentage. If you want bigger muscles, you’ll need to measure the circumference of those body parts (biceps, chest, thighs, calves). If you want to improve your time to run a mile, then you’ll have to know how long it currently takes you to run a mile (avoid the treadmill in this measurement, as it hampers your natural speed adjustments. I recommend finding a mile-long path and a stopwatch). You get the idea…

For many measurements, you should enlist the help of a trusted friend to handle the measuring tape or stop watch. Ideally, it is a friend who will help motivate you when you are struggling, and possibly someone who wishes to improve their health in the same way you do. If you are a member of a gym, ask one of the trainers to give you a full assessment. The initial consultation is generally offered free of charge.

Where Do You Want to Be?

Goal setting seems easy enough; however, “I want to get in better shape” is not really a goal. If it were, you could go out running every day for a week and technically you would be “in better shape” than you were before. To make resolutions that you can successfully achieve, you need to set SMART goals. SMART is a common acronym used in goal-setting....I'll explain:

• Specific – Write down how many pounds you want to lose. Write down your target body fat percentage. Write down how many miles you want to be able to run (and how long you want it to take you).
• Measureable – Remember those things you measured in order to determine your starting point? Those statistics should be included in your SMART Goal because, obviously, they are measureable.
• Accountable – most resources say the “A” is for Achievable, but we’ll cover that on the “R” and there’s no need to be redundant in an acronym. I like to use “Accountable” here. This means that you make yourself accountable. How? TELL EVERYONE what you are trying to accomplish. At the minimum, tell one other person who will encourage you.
• Realistic – Achievable. Don’t set a goal to run a marathon in a month when you can barely run a mile now. It is more realistic to set a goal to run a 5K in a month. Also good: to lose 2 pounds a week for 8 weeks.
• Time-Framed – Always include a deadline. This also aids you in the “accountability factor” since you will not be able to procrastinate without impacting your ultimate success.

Here’s my SMART goal: I will train at least 6 days each week in preparation to compete in at least 3 NPC figure & bodybuilding contests, with the first contest in June 2010.

How Will You Get There?
Now you know where you are and where you want to go. Now it’s time to make your road map to successfully achieve your goal.

• BABY STEPS – Behind every SMART Goal, there are baby steps to reach it. Break down your goal into smaller steps. For example, I included the baby step of six training days each week in my SMART Goal statement. I could also break it down into steps for weekly meal planning and weekly measurements to ensure I stay on track.
• RESOURCES – Make a list of the resources available to help you reach your goal. Do you know how to use the gym equipment, or how to design a workout plan? A trainer at your gym can help or you can subscribe to a fitness magazine. There are even entire television stations designated to health and fitness programming. For me, I’ve not trained for a contest before, but my trainer, Adam, has years of experience of preparing women & himself for competition. He is my main resource for information and motivation.
• RISK ASSESSMENT & MITIGATION– What could get in the way of your success? Every goal has something that could impede upon its success. Make a list of the impediments that you foresee. It could be your own motivation, lack of time, get-togethers with tempting foods, lack of family support…any number of things. List every risk you can think of.

Once you have your list of risks, come up with a mitigation plan for each one. That way, if you come up against that risk, you are already prepared to move past it. For me, registering for the first contest as soon as possible will keep me committed – I want to look my absolute best on stage! I’ve listed a few suggestions for you below.

Common Risk Mitigators

• Risk: Motivation
  - Schedule a professional portrait sitting that coincides with your deadline date.
  - Book a beach vacation - as long as you’re going with people who are motivating to you.
  - Save money every time you successfully complete a Baby Step & use it to do something nice for yourself when you achieve your goal.
  - Re-measure weekly. It helps keep you accountable to yourself.
• Risk: Lack of Time
  - Prioritize your training! Schedule it in your calendar and don’t book anything over it. (If that same hour were booked to help someone else improve their health, would you skip it?)
  - Waking up earlier and working out first thing is a great way to fit everything in.
• Risk: Tempting Meals with family or friends
  - Eat a snack beforehand to limit your portions of the tempting foods
  - Request a special item to be included on the menu for you (if your diet was vegetarian, they’d surely accommodate, so why not have the same expectation when your diet is lean foods?)
  - Drink lots of water – it curbs the appetite and makes your skin look great in the process. Add Crystal Light if you need flavor.
• Risk: Lack of support from family or friends (This is a tough one, yet quite common. Often, they don’t know they are sabotaging your efforts by saying, “Come on, one brownie won’t kill you. You can afford it.”)
  - Be prepared with statements like, “It’s hard to stop once I start.” Or, “That will cause my training session from this morning to be a complete waste.” Or even, “There is a reason I am so lean, and it’s because I don’t have brownies in my diet.” I recommend that last one for repeat offenders.
• Risk: Unidentified
  - Have a mentor. When you experience a risk to your success that you didn’t plan for, it’s best to talk to someone who has been through this sort of thing. Maybe it is your personal trainer, or your trusted friend who is working toward the same goal, or another person who inspires you. Identify this person early on so that you will know where to go when the time comes.

Get Started!

There is no time like the present! Start with your general resolutions, take your starting measurements, turn your general resolutions into SMART Goals, break it down into Baby Steps, then identify & mitigate your risks.

You are on your way to achieving your goals in 2010!

Post your SMART goals below to start making yourself accountable right away!