5 LIFEHACKS to stay on track with your New Years 'RESOLUTIONS'.
New Years comes around all too quickly, a time of year that is generally associated with fireworks, music festivals and a killer headache January 1st that last about as long as some of our New Years resolutions!
Every year we see resolutions, and goals come and go in a very fleeting manner, 'Lose Weight' 'Join the gym' 'Quit smoking' 'Drink less' 'Spend more time with family' 'Get that promotion' 'Manage debt' 'Be nicer to others', not many of these will make it through the month of January unfortunately.... But wait
There is HOPE
You need a plan!
1 PLAN.
Failure to plan = Planning to fail.
Break your goals up into 1 month / 3 month / 6 month and 12 month segments. Be as specific as possible, and write down HOW you are going to achieve these goals and why!
2 VISUALIZE.
We need to remind ourselves daily exactly what it is that we are trying to achieve, something to motivate and drive us towards our goals!
My favourite strategy is to create a goals + vision board. Once you have done this, hang it in a place that you will be able see on a daily basis (home or work). Not only will this help you visualise your goals as a real thing, but it will also remind you everyday what needs to be done!
For myself I use the following GOAL headers:
LIFESTYLE + FAMILY
HEALTH
CAREER
FINANCIAL
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
TRAVEL
For each of these categories, have a 1, 3, 6 & 12 month goal.
3 SET GOOD HABITS.
If your goal is to improve your fitness, 'tone' up and lose some body fat, then make sure your lifestyle is supporting that. "We are what we do, not what we say we'll do." This may sound incredibly obvious, but its crazy how often we sabotage our own efforts.
Think about your morning routine. What do you do? How could you improve it to not only make your day more productive, but set the tone for a positive day?
I have found that my worst days are the ones that start off with me pressing snooze, rushing around, and being unorganised. Instead, set the alarm 5-10 minutes earlier than usual, before anything else, make your bed! Such a good routine to create. Then take a few minutes to look at your goals, & think about what you can do today to work towards achieving this.
4 SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE, SUPPORTING PEOPLE.
"YOU ARE THE SUM OF YOUR FIVE CLOSEST FRIENDS"
If there's ever a quote I truly believe, this is it! Surround yourself with people who will lift you up, not put you down. Far too often I see people fail at their health and fitness goals because they are told by friends and family that they won't stick to it, or can't do it.
BULLSHIT, you don't need that kind of negativity in your life, so limit the time spent around those people.
Instead, spend time around people that you admire for their positivity or success. You may not realise it, but these people have a profound effect on your beliefs and actions!
Example: If you wanted to open a business, then you should spend as much time around as many successful business owners as you can!
5 CHANGE YOUR MIND.
Believe it or not, your mindset is the first, and most important aspect of yourself that you need to change in order to succeed. Everything in your life is a perfect match to your beliefs and expectations about yourself and the world.
Take ownership of your situations, good or bad.
When things go wrong, its my fault. When they go right, its also my fault!
Choose a positive and optimistic outlook, one in which you believe in yourself and your value.
Forget about the past failures, we make mistakes, it's happened, and trust me, it will happen again, what's important is how we learn from these failures and continue to move forward!
The way we think, the language we use and how we talk about our goals has a very powerful influence on our actions - I CAN, & I WILL SUCCEED. Not, I want, I hope, or I'll try.
6 IF YOU CAN'T HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE, FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN!
Accountability requires discipline, unfortunately, discipline is something that we lack in a generation of instant gratification. If you know, you have ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE when it comes to disciple and accountability, find or hire someone to help!
It could be a friend, a family member, or even a coach, regardless of your goal, there is always some kind of 'Coach, Mentor or Support group' that can help:
Fitness - Personal Trainer
Business - Business Coach
Savings - Financial Advisor
Addiction - Support groups
Nutrition - Nutritionist / Dietitian / Personal Trainer
Now I never said achieving your goal is going to be easy, but here are 6 LIFEHACKS that you can implement into your life to make achieving your goals a lot easier! PLAN - VISUALISE - SET HABITS - SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVITY - MINDSET - ACCOUNTABILITY
Now go and do something AWESOME! Craig Harvey
Instagram - coach_craigharvey
