It’s almost the end of the year, so within the next couple of weeks most of us will be making our resolutions for next year. Even as a personal trainer and health coach I make them too!
As of this month I’ve been coaching for seven years.
At the studios, the studios are usually packed every January first with people with New Year’s resolutions. Then, by the middle to the end of January the studio dies down to back to normal numbers with a few new faces continuing on, but lots gone.
What happens during those first 2 or 3 weeks of January?
Why is it so hard to stick to our New Year’s resolutions especially with fitness?
It is estimated that over 95% of us fail at our New Year’s resolutions. By fail I mean, failing = giving up.
Here are the top 5 reasons why we fail at our fitness resolutions.
1. Overwhelm: we overload ourselves with too many resolutions. We have fitness goals, nutrition goals, financial goals, relationship goals, we have goals for our spouse and even for our kids. We simply can’t handle that many serious goals.
Studies show that when we try to take on more than one life-changing goal at a time our success rate is near nil. We simply don’t have the necessary will power and energy to focus on more than one at a time.
Fortunately, willpower is like a muscle, it gets stronger as we use it But it also is finite. Overload it and you’ll run out too fast as well.
Solution: simplify and commit to one big goal. Once that goal becomes a habit and it doesn’t take so much energy and will power to complete, then you can start working on a different resolution.
2. Lack of a plan: When one creates a resolution without a plan they lack direction and step to get there. Just like those with fitness goals going into a gym for their first time; walking around not knowing what to do next. There was no order or direction to their workout. The workout was purely left to chance.
The cardio deck, however, is always packed. This happens for a couple of reasons. One, it’s the default form of exercise especially for those that don’t feel comfortable lifting weights. And, I get it. It’s a lot easier figuring out how to set up the treadmill than designing a strength training workout and figuring out lifting technique.
And, reason number two, many people still falsely believe cardio to be the best form of exercise for fat loss despite dozens of studies pointing out how ineffective it is and that it is often counterproductive (people can actually get fatter from doing cardio). I see this in the studios a lot when women who have worked out for months complain that their body hasn’t changed even though they are working out so hard doing all these cardio classes.
Solution: hire a trainer to set you up on a program, or at the worst find a program online that targets the same goal you have and then watch some YouTube videos to learn technique.
3. Unrealistic expectations: We live in an extremely fast paced world. We can cue up any movie or TV show and watch it at any time. We can literally order anything in the world and have it shipped to us “next day “. We’re impatient, we want our perfect body and we want it yesterday.
Setting unrealistic goals is a dead end road. Instead of a goal being motivating, the goal becomes demoralizing and shame full. Week in and week out we beat ourselves up because we’re not hitting our numbers. So, of course, after a few weeks of that we’re gonna throw in the towel.
Solution: Hire a trainer. With their experience they can guide you to realistic expectations. Also, when setting a goal ask yourself how confident are you that you can accomplish it. If you’re not 90-100% confident that you can do it then modify it to the point that you are at least 90% confident.
Another part of being realistic is to expect plateaus. Nobody gets consistent progress week in and week out. There will be setbacks. Accept this fact and the road accomplishing your new year’s resolution will be a lot more enjoyable.
4. Skipping the goal setting process: “If you fail to plan, plan to fail.”
When talking to my clients about goals we talk about 3 types of goals: outcome goals, behavioral goals and purpose goals. When we first meet we will talk about these three types of goals.
At bare minimum you need to decide “what” it is that you’re trying to accomplish and then commit it to paper.
A goal gives you direction and writing it down helps hold you accountable while motivating you at the same time.
“An arrow without a target always hits its mark.” If you have vague goals your results will be vague as well.
So.. get super specific with your goals and review them daily.
Solution: carve out 20 minutes to visualize your goals and commit them in detail to paper. Then, review them daily. Remember to keep them simple and break them down #1 and #2 from above.
5. No accountability: Personal accountability is an oxymoron. By definition, you can not hold yourself accountable. There has to be a second person involved, a second person to which you report. Otherwise, it’s human nature to slack.
Accountability is the number one thing new clients ask me to do for them. It is usually why they hire me as their trainer or coach.
They want me to make sure they make it to their workouts and follow through with their nutrition goals.
Even without a trainer, studies have shown that just having a workout buddy can make a positive difference on consistency with your fitness goals.
Solution: hire a trainer to hold you accountable or at the very least find a buddy to hit the gym with and report to each other on your nutrition.
I teach my clients to make things effortless. Then they don’t have to think about winning, it is already set up for them. So for you, almost all of these five mistakes can be resolved by enlisting the help of a trainer or coach.
I believe this is a life lesson that crosses over to all aspects of life.
If you want to improve your golf swing, hire a golf pro.
If you want to get out of debt and prepare for retirement, hire a financial planner.
If you want to start a new business, hire a business coach.
The point is you don’t have to recreate the wheel with your fitness. An experienced trainer has “been there, done that” and they can get you to your goal in the shortest time possible.
Speaking of hiring a personal trainer or coach, I’d love to be yours.
It fixes all of the above mistakes and you’ll create the lifestyle that you envision for a healthy, happy life.
You will get world class training, nutrition coaching and accountability. And right now, I am offering a discounted rate going into the new year.
Follow this link to learn more. But hurry because my training and coaching spots fill in so fast.
Stay Fit
This podcast introduces a four part series about the six dimensions of wellness. Most people think that healthy is when they have no signs or symptoms of disease. However, someone with no signs or symptoms of disease may not feel happy and enjoy living to its fullest. Sound familiar? You may be healthy but still have to drag yourself out of bed because you just don’t know what you’re doing in life – feel a numbness. Therefore we need to get to a place that we are growing and educating ourselves to reach a high level of wellness and zest for living because we feel empowered and motivated. This discussion teaches how to get a base line for where you are today in the six dimensions of wellness and then goes over how to make goals for those six areas to move up the spectrum and into optimal living.
