New Year’s Resolutions–Merely Excuses or a Useful Jumpstart?
With a 3 week old daughter at home, sleep is often hard to come by.
And lately that’s been true, as Sophia has been particularly "needy" at different times throughout the night.
Frustrating as it is, her little smile at 1:30 AM is cute enough to make that frustration quickly disappear.
Fortunately the other night I also had a bit of an epiphany, so all in all, it was a productive "middle of the night" stint.
And my epiphany was this "New Year’s Resolutions are merely excuses for what you don’t want to start today."
You see, at Mohr Results, we’re huge proponents of writing goals and working daily to achieve them. In our women’s only boot camp in Louisville we do the same — have various challenges throughout the year and actually don’t do anything like it on January 1.
We’re NOT fans of waiting until January 1st to set anything.
What’s magical about THAT day?
Start today and you’ll be ahead of the proverbial 8-ball.
If I wanted to lose fat, why should I wait an extra 3 weeks from today to get started…when I can easily lose 5-10 lbs in that time?
In the meantime, use these 5 Goal Achieving Strategies to help you set and achieve whatever you want from this point forward!
- Write Down Your Goals. Unless you write them down and "visit" them daily, they will get lost in the shuffle and excitement of new, daily issues and challenges. Case in point — when Kara and I were on a recent road trip, she had a pad and we were creating a list of things we needed to take care of when we got home. Two pages later, we were done … do you think we would have remembered all of them if they weren’t written? Not a chance. On the flip side, I’m happy to say that entire list has been crossed off.
- Don’t judge your own goals – and don’t let anyone else judge them either! If you are consistently second guessing yourself, or your spouse, co-workers, or anyone else is second guessing you, you’ll struggle to be ultimately successful. Assume there was NO limit, NO "ceiling" and NOTHING could get in your way. With that being the case, what can you dream of accomplishing?
- Think HUGE. What’s the one goal that REALLY makes you step outside that confining box that so many of us live in? Is it a certain body weight, certain look, certain income level, etc. Nothing is out of your reach, as long as you put the time in to achieve it.
- Write your goals in the positive. Never focus on problems, only focus on solutions. Rather than "I want to lose this weight I’ve struggled with for years," write "I weigh xxx lbs by January 30th, 2010 (or whatever date you choose)."
- Be sure your goals are YOUR goals. If your goals are influenced by the anyone but you, you’ll never truly "own" them — and when you don’t own them, you won’t achieve them (or if you do, it will be short lived).
Finish 2011 STRONGER than how you started!
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December 10th, 2009 at 5:49 am
I agree totally, I write down my goals and continually add to them as I think of new things, whether that is fitness, finance, religious or whatever, they all go on the same board (I have a poster hanging in my weightroom) and I write it out big so I can’t miss it. The key is looking at them after they’ve been written and there may be days you’ll go by without looking but just like anything think longevity. If I miss a goal it’s still right there in front of me and I just get started again. Thanx again Chris for caring and writing.
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December 10th, 2009 at 10:47 am
New Year’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, because I love having a fresh start and having a new year to look forward to, with all of its possibilities. I find that having daily, short-term, and long-term goals help me to stay motivated, and they often are related and depend on one another. I want to end this year on a positive note and head into the new year with new goals and dreams!
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December 11th, 2009 at 6:18 am
The whole idea of “starting” Jan 1 is sosososo big and pretty sad really. Even though sign- ups at our gym are escalating, and expected to continue into January we know that getting started NOW does put someone so much farther ahead of the game. I tell people who are just getting started that consistency is their best friend and no matter what they do after the come into the gym is not as important (in the beginning) as just creating the habit of “going to the gym” on a daily basis. IF that habit already exists BY January 1st then people could progress into efficiency of exercise three and four weeks ahead of schedule!
I also think that while people work toward a goal that is three or four weeks out, little smaller goals i.e. goals for “this” week or “today” are motivating and help pass the time while working on the bigger goal.
Thanks Chris, Kara AND Ella!
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December 11th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hi Chris & Kara (and everyone who reads this..!)
My husband & I returned from Red Mountain Resort & Spa a couple of weeks ago and I missed you guys as usual. However….starting this tradition of heading to Red Mountain over Thanksgiving week has been the best thing for me in my journey to be a healthier person. It is a terrific way to unwind, challenge myself with outdoor adventures & fitness classes. I re-energize my effort to eat healthy and exercise just as the holidays begin. I CAN and will lose weight over the holidays instead of put on a few more pounds. Plus I’m a happier person and am able to better enjoy the holidays (I’m not constantly beating my self up for eating too much!). I hope you enjoy your daughters first Christmas! Thanks for your inspirations!
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December 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I have always believed that “New Years Resolutions” was a made up marketing word to sell more “gadgets”. Nothing magical happens on January 1st. The stats are over 90% of people who make NYR will give them up by the 3rd month.
I always tell my prospective clients to start now! Get every excuse out of the way and do it TODAY!
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January 16th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Thanks that was a awesome article!
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December 9th, 2011 at 9:47 am
Wow! I needed this today…..like right now! Thank you!!
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