MAKING NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS WORK

Who can relate to the scenario of each year making new year’s resolutions and then realizing that the year has passed you by and once again you have failed at achieving your expectations? I would like to help you with some strategies to make 2012 the year of change.

We often tend to set ourselves huge expectations such as losing weight, stop smoking or drinking, etc . It all seems good at the start when for the first 2 days of the new year you are disciplined to not light up a cigarette, but then by day 3 your vulnerabilities and old habits get the better of you. You say to yourself, “This is all too hard”, and return to your unhealthy ways.

I am going to use the example of making a new year’s resolution to lose 20kg. At face value, this may appear unsurmountable. To complete the challenge, you can work out a plan of action by breaking down the task into smaller sessions to determine what needs to be completed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This not only makes the challenge less intimidating, it also gives you regular milestones that are much easier to achieve. That initial dream of conquering the impossible can become a reality. Small weekly doses of success will keep you motivated and determined that you can do it.

Over the years, I had always been a procrastinator in life, always dreaming about the things that I would like to do, but never actually doing them because I always doubted myself. I feared failure and it all seemed too overwhelming. What I learnt from my journey in figure competing is to not give up on your dreams. I like to use the SMART model in my own personal goal setting.

GOAL SETTING USING THE SMART MODEL

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-bound

Specific

Being more specific in what you aim to achieve gives you a higher chance of accomplishing the task as you become more committed. An example would be instead of saying “I will get fit”, make it more specific by saying something like “I will join the gym and attend three times a week.”

Measurable

Setting daily and weekly measurable steps helps you stay on track and keeps you motivated and confident in your abilities to reach your ultimate goal. Losing half a kilo or one pound each week is a perfect example.

Attainable

Identifying goals that have relevance to your personal growth helps you develop the strategies to bring you closer to your dreams. When you plan your steps wisely with realistic time frames, goals do not seem as impossible to achieve. Rather than minimizing your goals, you grow and develop. Reaching goals gives you a feeling of self worth, confidence and integrity as a person.

Realistic

There is no use in setting goals that are clearly impossible to achieve. Too difficult a goal and you have set the stage for failure. Yet too easy a goal sends the message that you aren’t very capable. Setting a goal that is neither too easy nor not too hard sets you up for a satisfying achievement.

Time-bound

You become more accountable when you set yourself a time limit. Having no time-frame for completion may leave you unmotivated and never getting around to completing your task.

Only you know yourself when setting new year’s resolutions. If your intention is to start exercising in the new year and you don’t like the gym environment, then don’t sign up to an expensive plan. Think how you can practically incorporate exercise into your daily life. Walking up a flight of stairs instead of taking the lift, walking home from the bus stop or walking around the neighborhood each night are some examples. The key is to take baby steps. You hear or read about success stories of people running their first marathon and they had never run before. These people don’t just put on their runners and start running. They begin by walking. When that is no longer intimidating, they may start power walking or have sessions of jogging/walking. Then, they would progress to regular jogging with the aim of increasing their mileage over time in order to reach the stamina and endurance level required to complete a marathon.

Similarly, if you are in the nasty habit of consuming heavy, fat laden foods on a regular basis and find it hard to break your habit, rather than going cold turkey, try to make small changes. An example would be to switch to low fat milk instead of full cream, or to reduce the sugar in your coffee by half. After a few weeks, you won’t even notice the change in taste.

Make 2012 the year of reaching your personal goals with success.

Happy Holidays!!

“Eat Healthy, Keep Moving and Believe in Yourself”

Loretta Mostofi

Australian and World Figure Champion

www.lorettamostofi.com

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