We made it: the beginning of a brand new year. 

I hope you’re feeling well-rested, well-fed and well-loved from the holiday season.

We’re now taking our first tentative steps into 2022. For many of us, this time of transition isn’t just a celebration — it’s an opportunity for reflection and growth. We look back on what we learned from the previous year, and make commitments we hope will make our lives healthier, happier, more productive, more creative and more meaningful in the year ahead. 

That’s right, I’m talking about New Year’s resolutions.

This is a fascinating time for the health and aesthetics industries. Each January, we see a flood of would-be wellness enthusiasts make bold plans for the coming year. Fresh off a season of overindulgence, they sign up for gym memberships, download the latest meditation apps and stock up on leafy greens at the grocery store.

And then… only a few weeks later, many have fallen off the wellness wagon. Their good intentions are wrecked on the rocky shores of personal and professional demands. Those leafy greens become a mold museum in the crisper drawer.

What gives? How can we do better, in order to be better?

Getting Real About Resolutions

You may already be familiar with the less-than-encouraging statistics around New Year’s resolutions. Odds are, you’ve been one of those statistics.

Studies show that most (some say as much as 80%!) of New Year’s resolutions fail. And it’s not just that we allow our resolutions to slowly wither on the vine as the months roll on — we dig the vine up, fling it onto the compost heap and set the whole heap on fire. Most resolutions don’t survive past February, and plenty don’t even make it beyond mid-January.

We know that sticking to resolutions is hard. Yet we repeatedly approach January 1 with bright eyes and bushy tails, rose-colored glasses affixed firmly to our faces, making lofty goals with no plan to achieve them beyond noble intentions.

I want 2022 to be the year we actually accomplish stuff. And not just any stuff, but the stuff that really matters. Because I think that’s the least we all deserve after enduring two years of this *gestures broadly at everything*

What It Really Takes to Make Your Resolutions Reality

I’m no life coach, but I’ve learned a few things from watching the cycle of New Year’s resolutions repeat, both in my practice and in my personal life. There’s an art, a science, a trick, a je ne sais quoi — call it whatever you want — to getting resolutions right.

Let’s say you have big health and fitness goals this year (because many of us do — they’re the most popular resolutions by far). How can you make sure this is the year you see success?

#1 Get Specific

“I want to be healthier” or “I want to look better” are worthy feelings. I’m the last person who would try to talk you out of either of them. But are they great goals? Science says no. We are more likely to succeed if we set small, specific, achievable goals. 

If, for example, your aim is to build muscle, “get swole” is not the smartest goal. A better goal would be going to the gym a certain number of times per week. And an even better goal would be hitting the gym a manageable number of times per week — say, three to four instead of daily. 

#2 Make It Meaningful

We start with a base reason for our goals. We want to lose weight, get strong, look better in clothes, be healthy, feel sexy, etc. To our detriment, our analysis of what we want often goes no further than this. We are more likely to stick with our goals if we dig deeper and identify our ‘Big Why.’

When you know your why, your goals are built on a solid foundation of emotion and personal meaning, which makes them much harder to abandon. Your why is the kindling that keeps your fire lit during times of doubt or low motivation. Dig deep and find what makes you truly passionate about reaching your goal.  

#3 Prioritize Action Over Motivation

Hard truth time: motivation is a starting point, but it’s not a long-term plan. No one ever feels completely motivated all the time. It’s easy to talk ourselves into jogging around the block when we’ve just watched Rocky run up a Siberian mountain — but what about when we’ve just gotten off our fifth Zoom call of the day and our sweatpants are beckoning?

Stop waiting for motivation to give you permission to make positive changes. Instead, cultivate discipline, and train yourself to take action whether you feel inspired in the moment or not. (This is easier if you’ve nailed #2.)

#4 Build Habits

Our brains are constantly hunting for the path of least resistance. When we do something over and over again, it requires less brainpower to do that thing. Remember how scary it was to drive a car for the first time? Now you could do it with your eyes closed (but please, don’t). Big goals get achieved when we break them down into actionable habits and build a system that supports those habits with minimal effort.

For a health and fitness goal, that system could include things like:

• Keeping the kitchen stocked with healthy snacks instead of sweets, so Desserts Vader can’t tempt you to join the dark side
• Hiring a personal trainer or buying a pack of group fitness classes, so you’re less likely to skip workouts
  

It’s about reducing the hurdles between you and a good habit, and increasing the hurdles between you and a bad habit, so you can act on autopilot.

#5 Find the Fun

A study found that immediate rewards make us more likely to stick with goals than delayed rewards. Delayed rewards (e.g. improving health and appearance) inspire our goals in the first place, but immediate rewards (e.g. fun and feeling good) are what motivate us to persist in achieving them. In other words, as a wise woman once said, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”

Making a resolution isn’t enough. We also need to enjoy the process of working towards it. So if you hate running, but want to improve your cardio fitness, don’t force yourself to run a marathon — try cycling, dancing or rowing instead. Find the fun. Give your brain a glorious hit of dopamine for taking a step in the direction of your goal, and you’re more likely to take subsequent steps.

#6 Track Your Progress

Small wins have big power. We’re excited to continue pursuing our goals when we can see that we’re actually making progress. To picture this principle in action, think of a popular video game. Part of the reason that game is so fun and addictive is that players get to level up and conquer increasingly hard challenges. Their successes are tracked clearly as points earned, items collected, skills unlocked, bosses defeated and other rewarding milestones.

Think about what you can track to level up your life. Maybe it’s inches lost around your waist or inches gained around your biceps. Maybe it’s completing a certain number of workouts per month. Maybe it’s just doing one more pushup than you did last week. If you know what you did yesterday, you know how far you’ve come and what you can do today to be even better.

#7 Acquire Allies

Batman and Robin. Mario and Luigi. An Avenger and… the other Avengers. We are stronger when we have allies who support us. And we are heavily influenced by the people we surround ourselves with. So if you’re looking to create change and make it last, you want a network of humans that positively influence you.

Recruit friends who have similar goals and want to build habits with you. Find clubs, meetups and message boards with folks who share your interests and values. For even more incentive and accountability, bring in the big guns — professionals like nutritionists, personal trainers, coaches and your friendly neighborhood NMD (*ahem*) to help you stay on track.

#8 Focus On What Actually Matters

And now I want to get real with you. Like, really real. I would never discourage anyone from working on themselves and improving their health. Those are wonderful, life-affirming things. But I also know that strict diets and Schwarzenegger-worthy workout routines are not for everyone, and that there is more to life than #bodygoals. 

Think about what truly matters to you and focus your efforts on that. If it’s fitness and health, great! Hopefully you’ll be able to put these lessons into action and reap the rewards. If you decide it’s actually spending more time with family, or saving money for retirement, or starting a new career path, that’s great too. Come visit me for Emsculpt so you can enjoy some body benefits while channeling your energy into what’s most meaningful to you. 

Who says you can’t have it all?

You’ve Got This

I believe in you. You deserve to have a body and a life you love, and with the right plan in place, you can get there. Go shout your resolutions from the mountaintop because now you have the tools to make them a reality.

If you think I can help you in the quest, I would be thrilled to be your ally. Get in touch online or at 480-493-5833 and let’s get started.