You’ve made the commitment to yourself for a New Year’s resolution. Great. Now its time to make sure you keep it as a year-round resolution, a lifestyle habit. Here are three principles to help make it more realistic for a year-round commitment.
First of all, have a plan. There was something that led to you deciding to take action. What was it in particular? How can you avoid or combat the obstacles that prevented your pre-fitness commitment?
Before a pilot and his/her crew take off, they have a flight plan. They also have air traffic controllers to assist along the way, as well as computerized autopilot programming that is making course corrections as needed, but ultimately the pilot is responsible. When a ship sets out to sea, a course is charted. A certain destination has been planned. When you go on a road trip, you learn what roads to take, with directions and/or a map. The same is true in your fitness lifestyle. You’re the pilot, captain, and driver of your success.
If others have done it, you can do it too. In other areas of our life, be it business, schooling, or extracurricular activities, we have learned from others how they achieved success in those areas. The same priniciples are applicable to your fitness goals. Find out what works and what doesn’t. The same thing won’t work for everyone, and at different stages you will change your approach. Rather than spinning your wheels trying to figure out exactly what to do, save time and energy by enlisting the guidance of others.
Do what you can do and enjoy. Don’t think that you have to start out with a full hour from the get-go. If you can already, fantastic. Getting in shape shouldn’t be a chore you fight. Rather, perform activities that you enjoy, but also know that there are other areas that probably need attention as well. For example, you may enjoy weight training but hate cardio work. What if you could achieve a kick-butt cardio workout by way of weight lifting, without ever having to get on a piece of stationary cardio equipment? If you enjoy cardio but don’t care for weight lifting, what if you realized that you probably have postural imbalances that could be corrected through smart exercise selection, using light-moderate weights- saving you time and problems in the future?
After two weeks of exercising for three days minimum per week, you should already feel more energetic, have better endurance, and get more done in the same amount of time. The success you enjoy will build upon itself, and this positive feedback will further accelerate your progress. You will feel great about yourself, what you are achieving, and you will want to continue with this positive trend. Studies show people already feel more confident after having started exercising for several weeks, before visible, cosmetic progress is even made.
Make this New Year your best year, and remember these three principles: plan your work and work your plan; if others have done it, you can certainly do it too; begin by performing exercises you can do/enjoy and realize that you will need to build upon your foundation. For more information, visit lwlcoaching.com and get a detailed action plan January 28th at our upcoming seminar.