How to FOREVER Crush your New Year’s Resolutions
I’m gonna assume that as you’re reading this, it’s sometime around December and you're planning out the goals you want to achieve in the new year. Maybe they're health related and you want to either shed some weight or put on some quality muscle. Perhaps your goals are for social health and you want to be more outgoing, more extroverted. Or maybe you want to cut down on certain habits like smoking or drinking for either health or so you can be a better role model.
Although in this article I will be covering the most common resolution which is fat loss, really any goal can apply and benefit to what I’ll be talking about in this read.
Every year between January and late March, gyms all around the US collectively see millions of new memberships bought. But by mid April, the majority of those newcomers seemingly vanish and although some of them will return the next year to try again, many won’t come back at all.
I’m gonna go into why this is. Why do so many “fail” their new year's resolutions within just a couple of months? Is it really just a lack of discipline or is there something deeper contributing to this cause? We’re gonna go over all this right now.
WHY WE “FAIL” OUR GOALS
The biggest mistake made when creating new year’s resolutions is setting the bar so high that you overwhelm yourself early on.
Most people want big change, that’s what gets our neurons activated. When we see shows like The Biggest Loser or read magazines showcasing quick fat loss, we get excited because we’re envisioning ourselves living that success. Maybe we have a little fluff on the sides that we hate or maybe we just want the gratification of others.
Most people would rather lose the weight all at once and take their chances rather than being strategic and opting for the slow approach. This is why you hear people setting goals such as losing 100lbs in a year or gaining 30 pounds of muscle. We go into the new year excited, thinking about how different we’re gonna be in just a year's time.
We get ourselves hyped to the brim and set our sights only on the finish line rather than planning out for the long journey ahead.
Which brings us to the next problem many find themselves having.
OVERHYPE
When we create these new and ambitious goals for the new year, we feel this large sense of pride and pre-accomplishment. Before anything’s even been done, we feel like we’ve already won as I stated before with the typical mindset solely directed on the finish line.
We feel empowered that we can make these changes. We feel like we're taking charge of our lives like this is going to be the start of a new character arc.
While there’s nothing wrong with hype and plain excitement, the issue with hype is that it can easily cloud our judgment. This is why you’ll see the massive goals and the even larger drop off rate.
And I'm not saying you can’t be the badass who completely changed their life in one year. That by all accounts is possible.
But it is important to remember that we’re not always going to be under the right mentality towards our health. There’s guaranteed to be times where the last thing you want to do is to show up to the gym or even cook for yourself.
I’m also not gonna sugar coat any of this, at the end of the day even if you don’t feel motivated, you still gotta put in the work and be consistent. You ain’t gonna get A+ results from a C- effort.
Planning for the journey rather than just the destination is going to set you up for far greater success than the latter option of trying to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. Knowing how you can stay motivated and keep progress flowing is crucial for the long term.
This is now where I’d like to showcase the first tip to help you stay consistent this year.
CREATING ACTION BASED GOALS
Action based goals are small, realistic, and easily achievable miniature goals that you can set along the journey towards your larger long term goal.
I’ll give you an example.
Let’s say I want to lose 100lbs but I know that my total daily movement is less than 4000 steps. An action based goal could be to throw in a daily 10 minute walk.
Or if I wanted to get stupid shredded, but I know I’ve never even touched a dumbbell, then an action based goal would just be to just stay consistent with coming to the gym 1-3 times per week.
Or going back to weight loss once more, if I know that my nutrition isn’t dialed in, then an action based goal could be to just throw in an extra cup of vegetables per day.
These all may not sound like really big rockers, but if these changes put you in a new environment you’re not used to, then you’d be surprised by how something so small can make such a large impact.
The small changes will act as stepping stones towards a larger change. The key is to make a small change and stay consistent with it. After that, you’ll progress to a slightly more demanding change and so on, so forth.
This could be going from that extra cup of veggies every day to making sure you’re getting 20-30 grams of fiber consistently.
This could be instead of one daily 10 minute walk, to throw in two or three 10 minute walks each day.
This could also be going from just showing up to the gym 1-3x per week to seeing a personal trainer about formulating a structured plan you can follow.
Think of action based goals like mini side quests you can complete to get extra xp and level up before heading for the final boss. This slower approach will be preferable for most people as it mitigates the risk of falling off because here, you’re encountering win after win rather than just waiting to achieve that one big win at the end.
HAVING REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Like I mentioned previously, most people want to see big change FAST. Bootcamps, high intensity classes + workouts, ultra strict diet plans, and an all or nothing mentality are all marketed to us as a means of quick progress. And what really sells these approaches is that they do actually work…..at first.
When you go from no exercise at all to slamming weights and running at your peak effort every day almost like you’re in an actual military boot camp, of course you’re gonna see some progress; you’re in a completely different environment thus eliciting change.
And what further sells these programs and classes and diets is that at first, they make you feel good. Really good. Like really fucking good.
That’s because of a couple things. First, when you sign up for let’s say a crossfit class, you’re not alone. You’re with a whole group of other individuals who all, like you, want to become greater in some capacity. Because everyone around you is goal-oriented, you have this sense of belonging and comradery which in of itself is addictive. Even if the class isn’t appropriate for you, you don’t want to leave because of the sense that you might be letting others down.
“But real quick, I would like to clarify that I don’t have beef with either crossfit or any high intensity class. I feel like for most beginners, high intensity classes may be too much because without knowing proper form, technique, and bracing, there is a high risk of injury.”
Second, when you’re having your ass kicked with max effort sprints and low rest periods on top of having a group to keep you motivated, your brain is being lit up! You’re getting the endorphin release from the running and the serotonin from the community plus the dopamine when you persevere and set a new personal record. Your brain is being lit up like a firework display of feel good hormones.
And when we feel good, we don’t want to stop.
Those two reasons are why these fast approaches aren't going anywhere anytime soon. And remember earlier when I said these only work “at first”? Well, yeah, the progress you’ll see in the first couple weeks is short lived and that’s largely due to their nature being unsustainable for the long term.
Ask yourself these questions:
Can I workout 6 days a week without fail for the rest of my life?
Can I sustain myself on 1200 calories without having cravings?
Am I going to be able to still show up even if my class isn’t available?
Most people are drawn to these quick fixes because they lack themselves in certain areas (motivation, discipline, not knowing what to do).
This is why the approach of creating action based goals is the key. Because it lets you make continual progress without the risk of feeling burnt out physically and mentally.
To make real, impactful progress, you have to plan for the journey itself. You have to know that sometimes, progress will slow if not halt entirely. These classes may put you in the mentality that if progress slows, go harder. But harder doesn’t always mean better. You can very easily overdue the intensity and that alone will halt your progress.
The slow approach allows for continual progress. Sure it is slower, but it’s more sustainable.
One of the most valuable tools you can have when embarking on a new goal is to be okay with the idea that others might progress faster than you. No matter what you do and how perfect and consistent you are, there will be someone who cruises past you. They may build more muscle, lose more body fat, or it may seem they can eat whatever and still lose weight.
The only person you should be comparing yourself to is you! If you’re progressing in any area, you’re on the right track.
Go into this knowing there’s gonna be times where progress slows down and when it does, that doesn’t mean you need to either drop your calories lower or raise the intensity of your workout. It just means you gotta stay consistent. Do the same thing you’ve been doing and eventually, you will break through that plateau.
CONCLUSION
The secret to winning your new year’s resolutions isn’t the super high intensity military boot camp or the diet plan that restricts entire food groups. The answer is the slow approach.
Make a list of the things you can improve upon. Then create small, realistic changes to those things and slowly improve overtime. I’ll give a couple of examples.
No vegetables at all > 1 cup per day > 2-3 cups per day > 25-30g fiber every day
Less than 4,000 steps > 1 extra 10 minute walk > 2-3 extra 10 minute walks
Less than 7 hours of sleep > wear blue light glasses or use a filter > set a shutoff time > go to bed without your phone
When setting up your new year’s goal, think with an unmotivated mindset. Think about the times where you won’t be as hyped, the times where you’ll encounter stress, lack of sleep, poor weather, and just pure laziness. Think about what you can do consistently. Don’t set the bar so high that you overwhelm yourself.
The idea here is for you to succeed in your goal.
Not become part of a statistic of those who quit.
But with the classes, If you truly love that HIIT class every Tuesday and find that it does help keep you consistent and it truly brings you value, don’t ditch it. If you are aware of what you’re capable of physically and know when to slow things down by modifying your movement, then there’s nothing wrong with taking it.
Intense classes only become problematic when you go in with the mentality of “more is better”. That the more you throw at yourself, the more you’ll progress. If you can regulate yourself and are mostly doing it for enjoyment, then I think those classes can be a VALUABLE asset.
The journey you take to change yourself shouldn’t be thought of as a temporary pursuit, but it should be thought of as a lifestyle change. We want these goals to last forever, so we need to think with that forever mindset.
Enjoy the journey, have fun with your workouts and feel free to experiment with some classes if they’re appropriate. But most importantly,
Don’t ever quit.
Talk soon
- Randy
