New Year, New You!

New Year, New You!

It’s that time again… we’ve put on five pounds of holiday weight, spent a little more than we intended, and have a cluttered home from the holiday festivities. We’re starting to think of all of the things in our lives’ we are not satisfied with. The new year is a great time of year because we get to start over, start fresh, and set new intentions and goals. By the end of the year, we let our old resolutions slip and fall to the back burner of our priorities, but the important part is that we want to try again. We have grown, learned, and experienced events that make us into new people throughout the year, so let’s set new intentions and goals that will stick!

Did you know only around nine percent of us succeed at keeping and successfully conquering our New Year’s resolutions? We have good intentions, but sometimes life just gets in the way and we get too busy. Although it’s understandable why we can’t always execute our resolutions, is it possible we also may be setting our goals out of reach and being unrealistic? We often say we are cutting out all junk food, then by the end of the week there we are stuffing ourselves on the couch. Often our resolutions are complete opposite extremes of what we are doing now which is why it makes sense when they only last a short time. Instead of completely cutting out junk food we could make that goal more manageable by instead having one day where we allow for a good cheat meal.

Sticking to resolutions isn’t the easiest task, but it can be conquered. We just need to make resolutions that are more realistic for our individual lifestyle. We’re going to share some tips with you to have you excited for the New Year!

Think Smaller
As mentioned, a common theme I see between the people in my life is that our goals are too big! We get frustrated that we didn’t lose that 15 pounds in the first week, therefore, we don’t feel we are making progress and then we give up. Instead of big goals, we can set something called a big-picture goal, but to get to the big picture we need small, obtainable goals that are realistic in order to arrive at and meet our big picture. Starting January 1st, it wouldn’t be realistic to go to the gym two hours a day for seven days a week if you’ve never stepped into the gym before. Before you know it, you’ll be exhausted, tired, and defeated. Start small – go twice a week, then three times a week, then by the end of the month aim for four or five. Moderation is key.

Plans for Dealing with Obstacles
What’s keeping you from meeting your goals in the present moment? How can we get around those obstacles? Are we doing everything in our power to reach these goals? These are the most important questions we can ask ourselves because these are the things we have control over. Reaching our goals isn’t always about external issues such as finances, transportation, or lack of support that keeps us from reaching our goals. Many times, we can keep us from reaching our goals. Push yourself past your comfort levels and get out of your safe zone. Real growth comes when we are pushed passed our comfort level. Are you used to coming home and sitting on the couch? If so, challenge yourself to come home, get in gym clothes, and walk right back out the door and head to the gym. Give it a try. Mix up your daily routine to get out of your current rut.

Specific Goal Setting
How can we get to our results if we aren’t being specific? Being specific, but within reason is a huge key to success. Aim to lose one pound this week. If you set an obtainable goal and meet that goal by the end of the week, can you imagine how good and motivated you’ll feel when you step on the scale and see you have lost weight? The goals are to keep the ball rolling and keep the momentum up. It’s hard to do so when we set large goals and don’t meet them. The idea is to not get discouraged and to keep the positivity flowing. Is your goal to save to go on vacation this summer? Be specific with how much money you’ll need to save and every week towards that goal. Will you need to save $15 a week? Cut back on extra spending by bringing lunch to work one day a week.

Break down your goals into step by step actions that are obtainable. Is a goal of yours to be more social? This is a broad goal, but we can break it down further by making the goal “eat lunch with a friend once a week.” If your goal is to stop binge-watching Netflix, change that goal to only watching 3 episodes a week. Do you see how being specific makes our goals into tangible actions? Give it a try! Make 2020 the best year yet.

Get that gym membership, ease up on the binge-watching, and skip that drive-through dinner. Small steps throughout the year make it possible to meet your big-picture goal at the end of the year. We’re excited to watch you succeed!

Check us out on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/karmahub-inc
Check us out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/karmahubinc