Your fitness goal matters even if it does not succeed
By K10 Patel / Jan 9th, 2024
You have made it into the second week in January and your 2024 goal is still intact. You have started 2024 on a strong note and it is definitely going to be the best year you have ever had. The reality of positive thinking’s potency is undeniable, but brace yourself for the resilient year in front of you because optimism alone won’t get you very far if you lack the will power, discipline or toughness.
If you are someone who has not made a new year’s resolution, whether it be fitness related or not, make a realistic goal to aim for.
Statistics say that most people don’t make it past the first few weeks of the year and give up on their goals. The stats also say that the majority of new year resolutions are related to fitness and self-improvement in some fashion.
The biggest thing about keeping your goals alive are to make them realistic and time based. Nevertheless, making a goal and not achieving it still results in a positive effect in your life and possibly for others around you as well.
The worst thing you can do is give up after a bad day or bad week. Those types of weeks are inevitable. Very rarely will your plan go to par 100% of the time. Be prepared to have some flexibility and get through those tough days.
If you are trying to develop a new habit, it will take a lot longer than a few weeks to develop that habit into your lifestyle. Give it a few months at a minimum to consistently make your new behavior a part of your life.
For example, if your goal is to exercise three times a week and you are someone who has never exercised before, this goal is difficult to achieve without having a plan and breaking it down into smaller goals.
I recommend shooting to exercise once a week for at least the first month since going from zero to one-time a week is more reasonable. Jumping from zero activity to three workouts per week may create an unreasonable expectation in your lifestyle.
On the other hand, if you are five months into your goal and you are still struggling to complete one workout per week, stick to one exercise session per week for the remainder of the year. Understand that achieving a consistent three-workout-per-week schedule may be too far reached. Ensure you know the ‘why’ behind your failure of not being able to achieve your goal so that you learn from it. It is possible
Was your goal too ambitious? Do you lack the discipline? Are you struggling to find time to do the workouts? If the day gets away from you due to your career, kids, personal obligations after work, then why not make it a priority during the early morning? Research shows that most people feel the highest sense of accomplishment when they exercise in the AM hours.
Going back to the example of the three-workouts-per-week goal. It is perfectly OK to change this resolution considering that you are getting the positive outcome that wasn’t there before. This is not intended to mean that you can lower your expectation, but rather the idea that you are developing a major change from no activity to raising your heart rate once a week.
It is true that you didn’t meet your three workouts-per-week goal, however, making the change to once a week will establish a more active lifestyle for you. The final effect will still be positive even though you didn’t keep your new year resolution. You can build on this resolution by aiming for a two-workout-per-week goal the following year.
Final Thoughts
If you have no new year resolution, you are not achieving anything, therefore, you have nothing to gain. Change is hard to adapt, but it is possible.
There is a lot of psychology behind the various stages in ‘Change’ such as contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination but I will save this topic for another time since it deserves its own article.
Make a practical new year resolution that doesn’t aim for grand achievements right away. Instead, focus on smaller, achievable goals as stepping stones towards your larger objective in the future. Embrace the idea of taking gradual steps, as it’s the progress, no matter how minor, that sets you on the correct path toward your ultimate goal.
