2016 is just a few days away, and I’m sure many of you have been considering your New Year’s resolutions. 2016 is going to be the year that you eat healthy, lose weight and get strong, right?
Resolutions are goals, and setting goals is a great way to keep motivated. I’m all for positive thinking, but there must be a solid plan of action and a tangible result behind every goal.
I will be considering my goals for 2016 on January 1st. 5 years ago, I would have written ‘get abs’ and ‘eat clean’, and for about a week I would overexercise and under-eat, before returning to my regular habits and never seeing any real progress. My goals now are performance based, and will probably include handstand walks and weightlifting PRs. Instead of vague promises of weight loss, I now set SMART goals- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based. If you have a CrossFit or health related goal that you want to achieve, come and talk to myself, Hillary or Jordan, and we can help you develop a plan to get you there.
But here’s the thing, while specific goals are nice to have, habits are far more important. I know that I will achieve my goals because of the healthy habits I have already created, habits that I have formed without even realizing it. Working out 5 or 6 days a week has become non-negotiable, and I honestly don’t consider skipping a training session anymore. Exercise wasn’t always fun for me, but at some point it transformed from being a chore to something I look forward to every day. Because of this, I know that if I just keep doing what I’m doing, I will eventually tick off those goals.
It’s not going to happen overnight, it may not even happen in 2016, but starting today (don’t wait until the 1st!), begin to build yourself a lifestyle that sets you on the path to success. Quit making excuses and just keep showing up and grinding away. Eventually, working out and eating to nourish your body will be things that you just do, like cleaning your teeth. You will start to enjoy the way that they make you feel and they will be an essential part of your day. You’ll pass on after work happy hour because you want to make the 6.30pm class, and you’ll routinely prep your food for the week on Sunday afternoons.
Focus on creating the habit, and with patience and hard work, the results you are looking for will come.
