5 secrets for making your new year’s resolution stick
Resolution: A firm decision to do or not do something.
SECRET #1: Stop calling it a “resolution”
Before you move on to the rest of the secrets of keeping your “resolution,” a mindset shift needs to occur. You’re already at a disadvantage the very second you tell your friends about your resolution. Why? Because a New Year’s Resolution implies that you will sustain a behavior change for the entirety of the year without being very specific about what and how you will change. Take a second and write down what you said your resolution would be this year. Did it look something like this?
“I’m going to exercise more”
“I’m going to eat better”
“I want to read more books”
“I’m going to think more positive”
What do you notice? If your resolution sounded anything like these examples, you probably noticed that these are all vague, and so is the term resolution. There is no thought or purpose behind them, and that is why most fail to achieve them after just a couple short weeks or months. Here is where the mindset shift occurs…If you want to be successful and feel good about what you want to achieve in the new year, establigh goals, not resolutions.
SECRET #2: Be SMART
What do I mean by SMART? The goal you choose should be…
Specific: Which of these is more specific? “I want to be healthier” or “I want to lose weight and improve my blood pressure”? The former option is really open for much interpretation and sets you up for confusion and frustration, while the latter goal identifies something that is quantifiable.
Measurable: Elaborating on the previous point, the goal also needs to have some sort of objective measurement behind it so you can see clear progress. For example, “I want to lose weight” is on the right track, but it doesn’t identify how much weight loss will be sufficient. So, stating your goal in that way sets you up for disappointment as well, however, if you quantify it (e.g. “I want to lose 10 pounds) then you have a clear target and path you are set on pursuing.
Attainable: Once you have your clear goal set, you need to ensure it is actually realistic for you to achieve at the current juncture of your life. For example, if you currently have a job that requires you to work 50+ hours per week and travel a lot, perhaps substantial weight loss is not all that realistic at that point in time. A person in this situation might instead choose to focus on weight maintenance and achieving a physical activity goal of 30 minutes per day for 3-5 days per week until the schedule allows for a little more time to devote to more structured training. This person may even surprise themselves with weight loss without having it identified as a goal!
Relevant: Does your goal align with your values and long-term objectives? This is your opportunity to be 100% real with yourself and determine if what you’re trying to achieve is worthwhile to you at this point. For instance, are you willing to make the trade-offs necessary to have a body composition like that of a physique competitor and body fat percentage in the single digits or lower than ever before? If you’re not willing to make some sacrifices then that goal is not even relevant to you. You will always just be chasing a dream and making yourself unhappy. If that’s the case, put your ego aside and start with a short-term goal that is more relevant to your values and what you’re willing to change to achieve it.
Time-based: Give yourself a set timeline for when you want to achieve your goal. This will add a sense of urgency and increase your motivation to continue pursuing it. Once again, make sure it’s attainable. For example, setting the goal of losing 20 pounds in 30 days is not only dangerous and may lead to over-exercising and injury, but also not very realistic or sustainable. Instead, choose more conservative, sustainable weight loss of 1-1.5 pounds per week with a goal of 10-15 pounds lost in two months.
A practical SMART goal would look something like this:
“I want to lose 10-15 pounds in 8 weeks by exercising at my local gym 3x per week from 6:00-7:00am”
SECRET #3: Create a Habit Contract
In James Clear’s best-selling book Atomic Habits, he challenges his readers to create what he calls a Habit Contract. This is a psychological strategy that you can leverage to lock in a greater commitment to your goal, increase motivation, and recruit a source of external accountability during your process. You simply create a short written contract with yourself and one other individual who will hold you accountable. In it, you include the details of the SMART goal you are trying to achieve as well as the consequences for not doing what you had intended to, and both individuals sign it. Ensure the consequences are strong enough to deter you from not following through with your agreement. More details and a sample contract template pdf can be found here.
SECRET #4: Master your Decisive Moments
In the aforementioned book, James Clear also discusses short, but impactful moments throughout your day that ultimately determine your future behaviors. These are called decisive moments because these small actions at any point in time make it much easier or much harder for you to stick with your goals. For example, I frequently struggle to get to sleep at a time I know will have me feeling awake and refreshed the next day. So, when I come home late at night, my decisive moment is: sink into the couch next to my wife and watch a show, or sit at the kitchen island while having a small bite to eat. I know that if I sit on the couch, it will make it astronomically more difficult for me to get up at the commercial break and go to bed. However, if I sit at the kitchen island, I am out of the “comfort bubble” and I can more easily finish my snack and head straight up to bed at the next commercial because I have an easier escape route, so to speak.
If you have difficulty getting up in the morning to exercise, your decisive moments could be: setting out your workout clothes the night before when you get home instead of going straight to the couch or kitchen, or plugging in your phone/alarm clock across the room so it forces you to get out of bed and on your feet in the morning, before getting into bed (once you get into bed it’s most likely game-over). These decisive moments are ever-present throughout the day. Start becoming aware of them, make small changes to seemingly unrelated behaviors, and you will notice huge results later on.
SECRET #5: Ditch the “All or Nothing” mindset
I have a confession to make…I am not perfect and neither are you; nobody is. We all make mistakes, we miss workouts, we stay up too late, we oversleep, we overeat junk food, and we put on some weight. I have another confession…It is NOT the end of the world, and you DON’T need to throw in the towel every time you make a mistake or you let yourself go for a few days or longer. Here’s a good principle to live by…Don’t miss twice, but if you do, it only takes one positive action to start a good habit again. What’s the practical application here? If you miss today’s workout, let it go and do it the next day you planned a workout. If you had to stop somewhere for fast food because you were pressed for time, give yourself a break and make the next meal of better quality than the current one. If you stayed up too late binge-watching a show on Netflix and feel like garbage the next morning, use the fact that you’re tired to your advantage and go to bed early the following evening.
Inevitably, there will be a time where you do make two, or three, or ten poor choices in a row. Such is life. As I said, it only takes one positive action to re-start the good habit again. So, summon some willpower, set your ego aside, and get back on the horse. Be kind to yourself and accept the fact that health is a lifelong process with ups and downs.
In summary, if your New Year’s Resolution has fallen through, set a new SMART short-term goal, create a Habit Contract with a friend or family member, master your daily decisive moments, cut yourself some slack, and make your next action better than the last.
Cheers, and have a healthy and prosperous 2022!
about the author
Coach Adrian Wolff has been working in the fitness industry as a personal trainer and group fitness coach since 2016. He grew up in Chicago, IL playing ice hockey, soccer, and tennis, and developed his passion for fitness while serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
Shortly after leaving active duty, he began a career in the fitness industry as a volunteer CrossFit coach. Then he decided to pursue a master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. While working on his degree, he continued to coach people of various backgrounds in the aspects of sports performance, functional fitness, and nutrition.
He graduated with a Master of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Physiology in 2019, and moved to Las Vegas. He continues to work with youth to Division 1 collegiate athletes, and everyday people to help them achieve their fitness goals.