New Year New You

 

New Year, New You

What better time to set new goals for yourself than January? It is a brand new year and the possibilities are endless. Many set New Year’s resolutions with the best intentions to stay on track and make a life change, but few actually follow through. One reason keeping a New Year’s revolution is hard is because expectations and goals are unrealistic. Here are some tips to help you reach your new year’s resolution.

Think of it as a New Year’s Evolution, not Resolution. The New Year is a time for you to evolve into something greater. The process of evolution is slow, consisting of a series of small steps, so your resolution should take time and consist of small attainable goals. For example, if you are new to running and would like to improve, your resolution should not be to complete a marathon during 2015. Instead, shoot for improving how long or far you can run each week and aim for a more realistic goal such as completing a 10k.

Come up with a clear written out plan, including short and long term goals and a timeline to reach these goals. Keeping your goals organized will help you stay on track and help hold you accountable. Revisiting your goals monthly is a good idea, and you should not be afraid to adjust your goals to help you reach them. Reaching a goal is a great feeling, the more goals you reach, the greater your drive towards your New Year’s Resolution will be.

Recruit a friend who is interested in the same resolution you are. Friends are a great tool to keep you accountable. Say you and your friend both want to quit smoking in 2015, having the support from one another will help with the stress of such a big life change. Setting and attaining goals will be easier because you will not want to let your friend down. Knowing someone is counting on you is a great motivator.

There are a number of different ways to improve yourself in the New Year, and a number of different New Year’s Resolutions. For me, I will be staying off social media, starting small, and working on my relationships with my family and friends face to face. How are you going to improve yourself in 2015?

- Heather Finnegan, PT, DPT