Only nine percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions will achieve their goal. By February, nearly 80 percent of people who make a New Year’s resolutions will have given up on one or all of their goals. Before you make another New Year’s resolution, remember that doing something over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
Rather than making goals or resolutions this year, envision the life you want to live — and make changes to help you go live that life. If you need help understanding what I mean, I highly recommend the book, Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.
I am someone who is constantly trying new life hacks (and new diets and exercise methods). I’m still not satisfied with my life, but I think I’m closer now than ever before to where I want to be. I’ll share some mind shifts I’ve made that have helped me — and made the biggest impact in my life.
1) Set short-term goals, think in 30 day increments not 365 days.
Most people set resolutions for the entire year, but I really loved Sarah Bedrick’s blog post about creating 30 day challenges, as you are more likely to stick to your goals. Her post really resonated with me because these micro-goals can really change your life over a long period of time. Instead of one big goal, choose 12 challenges you’d like to pursue throughout the year. She recommends Matt Cutts Ted Ed Talk video, which changed her life forever. She says, “Watch it; it’s only 3 minutes and 27-seconds.” I watched it. It’s good and on point with the rest of my post.
2) Prioritize your self-care routine first thing in the morning.
I followed the habit-forming process laid out in the book the The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod for 30 days and it changed my mind and outlook on life. The idea of the Miracle Morning is that you wake up one hour before the time you normally wake up, and you spend 10 minutes on each habit.
- Silence — I meditate and clear my mind.
- Affirmations — I pray in gratitude.
- Visualization — Create a visual that will inspire you emotionally. You may even consider watching a video of some Olympic feat or athlete.
- Reading — This is a good time to hit your devotional or read a few pages of an inspiring book.
- Scribing (writing/journaling) — Writer prompts help spur creativity.
- Exercise — A walk with my pup or some yoga or ab work.
The benefits of prioritizing self-care early in the morning means your days will be more focused, more productive and you will feel so accomplished. Kailei Carr, CEO of the The Asbury Group, created a Facebook Group called the Goal Crushers to inspire people to reach their goals. She is leading a 30-day Miracle Morning challenge starting January 1st. This is how I got started almost three years ago so please join us.
3) Don’t lose weight, gain your health.
A popular New Year’s resolution is weight loss but according to the CDC, 70.7 percent of adults, aged 20 and over, are either overweight or obese. You’d think with all the diets, shakes, miracle pills, and trendy exercises this would not be the case.
I worked with three nutritionists in 2017. I lost weight with all of them but the diets and subsequently the results, were vastly different. My symptoms varied from feeling like I had the flu, low blood pressure and completely running out of gas during my intense workouts. Pay attention to what your body is saying.
Finding a nutritionist who understood my desired outcome was key for me, versus using the standard method of calories in, calories out to simply weigh less. If I wanted to get better, I had to learn to think about food as fuel and learn about the timing of my “fuel” based on the work I needed my body to do.
The team at Adaptive Nutrition, a Dallas-based group that works with fitness minded people, elite athletes, corporations and UT Southwestern Medical Center, looks at nutrition in a holistic manner which includes your fitness goals, your quality of sleep, and your stress levels. They have created this awesome infographic that takes the guess work out of following a healthy nutrition plan.
It’s tough to know where to start but think of life as a bar stool. If you remove one of the legs, the chair is wobbly and you won’t be able to sit for very long. I think life works the same way which is why I recommend thinking about how you’d design your life as the first step.
At least it has been true for me that if your body is not well, your mind is not happy and if your mind is not well — you will not be happy. My wish for you in 2018 is that you embark on a journey of becoming self-actualized (the best version of yourself), you seek out to live a healthy lifestyle (mind, body, soul) and that you find insanely positive people to surround yourself with that will cheer you along the way (thanks Instagram peeps and people IRL for being my cheer squad).
Disclaimer: Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program.
Originally published on Medium.