20 Mar How to Achieve Your Health & Fitness Goals This Year
Written by Paige Johnson
Each year, many people make resolutions to lose weight, get fit, or become healthier. Unfortunately, a staggering 80% of people end up breaking those resolutions and never reaching their goals.
Having a vision in mind for your health and fitness goals is important. Here’s how you can jump right into your health and fitness vision and come up with tangible steps to reach your goal.
Get clear
Put down your phone. Close your laptop. Grab a pen and paper and go into a quiet room by yourself, away from the distractions of technology. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, “What do I want for my health and fitness journey?” Start freely writing all the thoughts and ideas that come to your mind. At the end of each sentence, feel free to probe even deeper by asking yourself, “Why do I want this?” Align your actions and thoughts with what you’ve written down.
Be honest with yourself
As powerful as it might be to have your goals written down on paper, it still does you no good if you’re not being honest with yourself. Don’t worry about your goals looking good to someone else. This isn’t about creating something that looks good when you show it to other people; it’s about creating something that feels good to you.
Take baby steps
A lot of people have huge visions that cannot be realistically accomplished in just one year – and that’s okay. Where people go wrong is that they become overwhelmed with their goals and with how long it is taking them to reach them. They go “all or nothing” and eventually burn out or get frustrated with their lack of results, so they give up. Instead, try breaking your goals into smaller steps. Try to make at least one tangible step towards your goal each and everyday.
Look for ways to work in a little more exercise. For example, start spending 15 minutes of your lunch break going on a walk around your office building, or if you’ve been considering starting a side gig to make extra money, consider one that allows you to exercise while you work, such as dog walking or becoming a “tasker.” There are also many other great ways to be active as you go through your day, such as walking meetings and cleaning your home.
Surround yourself with the right people
This is the hardest step of this whole process. Everyone is on a different path, and we’re all achieving our goals at different rates. It’s very important to align ourselves with people who will be supportive and positive throughout our journeys (and not put us down or tempt us to get off track). Take note of who you’ve been spending the most time with. How do they treat you? How do they speak to you? How do you feel around them? Do they motivate or demotivate you? You don’t have to cut people out of your life completely just because they don’t share your vision. Instead, mindfully make space to spend additional time with more positive people.
Let go of the people, things, and thoughts that aren’t serving you in your health and fitness dream. Be honest with yourself, and take action. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to reaching (and maybe even surpassing) your fitness goals this year. Good luck!
About the Author:
Paige is a self-described fitness “nerd.” She possesses a love for strength training. In addition to weight-lifting, she is a yoga enthusiast and avid cyclist.
“While I don’t practice it nearly enough, one of the best things I have found that improves my overall health and well-being is meditation. It lowers my blood pressure, relieves stress, and replenishes my energy!”