Happy New Year!

Another year over and a new one just begun. Sounds like a song I used to know! I hope you’ve all had a great Christmas and New Year and are ready for 2014. If you’re like most people, you’ve probably made some form of New Year’s resolution and most likely have broken it by now. In fact only 8% succeed while 92% of people fail. Why is that number so high? Are we a country of quitters? Sounds Un – Australian doesn’t it?  So, why is the failure rate so high?  It’s because we make our resolutions unrealistic from the very start. We put so much pressure on ourselves to undo 20, 30, 40 years of habits whether its in a month, 12 weeks or 12 months.

Let’s face it. Most people want to lose the weight, get fitter and learn to be healthier. Now that is a great resolution, however for your dream or goal to be a reality, you need to set yourself a deadline. You need to start being specific and set smaller achievable goals along the way to keep you on track.

For example, you might say I will train every Monday, Wednesday and Friday . Then make it measurable by making a chart or diary must be kept so that you can tick off each session. Do you ever notice how if you make a long term goal like losing weight by my holiday at the end of the year and a short term goal of say no alcohol until the weekend. You will much more likely to keep your short term goal than the long term goal. That’s because the long term goal is too far away to worry about whereas the immediate or short term goal is at the front of your mind. So you have more chance of achieving it. So you must keep the resolution or goal in front of your mind. So that every day or at worst every couple days you do something to get you closer to achieving your goal. Like going to the gym or saying no to chocolate or alcohol. These can be done daily so everyday you get closer to your ultimate goal of losing weight. This positive affirmation makes you stronger and more likely to achieve your goal. Its like a little victory on the way to winning the war.

So make your resolutions achievable, measurable every day, tangible and have short and long term mini goals until you reach your ultimate goal. Then you will become one of the 8% that actually achieve your goal in 2014. Good luck guys.