I’ll be honest-I absolutely love a new year. For the same reasons I love a Monday. It's a fresh start, a new week/year to be better than you were previously. And I don't think there's anything wrong with having a couple of resolutions for some overall self improvement. Problems with New Years resolutions can creep in with guilt/shame/fear surrounding your goals.
I'm here to share some considerations you can take when establishing your New Years resolutions so that you're set up for success.
#1-Avoid ANY and every resolution that is based on appearance. Your opinion of your appearance is so subjective and and can be skewed in a positive or negative way. Instead for fitness goals-find a resolution that has a long term positive impact on your life. For example: "I want to jump on the trampoline with my kids for 30 minutes without feeling winded" "This year I will exercise 3 times a week to improve my bone mass" Your goal has to have a long term result to promote long term consistency.
#2-Be realistic. Guilt and shame are ready to pounce when a New Year's resolution is "failed". To avoid this be really realistic with yourself. Knowing your realities: work, school, home, hobbies-what do you have the bandwidth for? What can you realistically insert into your life at this moment. Sometimes there are literally not enough hours in the day for you to maintain your health and accomplish everything else you'd like too. Also be realistic with where you might have failed in the past. For example if you're trying to quit smoking/vaping/tobacco use-and you've tried to quit before-what prevented you from doing this in the past? Can you eliminate that obstacle this go around? Research how others before you have been successful and see of some of those practices could help you as well! Write your resolution to quit as "This year I want to minimize tobacco use as much as possible if not all the way-ultimately reduce it more than I did last year." This language is encouraging and no matter the outcome you tried to be better than the year before.
#3-Lastly-write them down! Writing down your resolutions and just goals in general create physical proof of what you want to accomplish. When we don't see our resolutions and they're just floating around in our head we can really stray from where we wanted to be and this can lower our chances of being successful.
I write down all of my resolutions and goals at the top of the year and I'm ALWAYS left feeling energized and motivated for the days to come. The Studio is dedicated in supporting you set and accomplish healthy goals related to your wellness. If you're ready for a revolutionary exercise experience - join Studio Stream here or join with an in-person membership at our two Studio locations here.
