Revolutionize your resolutions!

It's been a while, hasn't it?


I thought I'd write about making resolutions, since that's the popular thing to do now. To be honest, I thought resolutions were pretty cheesy and didn't even try to make any until a couple years ago. And then, I realized; if I want to change things about my life, I need to plan it out and make goals for myself! I have learned a lot about setting goals for myself, especially in the past year, so I thought I'd share some of that gained knowledge. I'm not claiming to be a 'goal guru'...just learning along the way! :)


We've all heard the "I want to lose weight this year" goal, right?  That's probably the most popular resolution. Yet, most people who make that goal don't end up reaching it. Why is that? Well, there are a few reasons, in my opinion.


First, make measurable goals. Instead of saying "I want to lose weight this year," say "I want to lose x pounds by x date". And make sure to make your goals realistic.  If you say you want to lose 100 pounds in 2 months, that's probably not going to happen (unless you get surgery or starve yourself and work out like crazy).


Secondly, something I like to do is create a game plan on how to reach your goals.  You can't get to your destination without some sort of vehicle, right?  The way to make this achievable is to break it down.  A yearly goal might seem daunting, but if you break it down into monthly goals and weekly goals, followed by daily activities, it will be much more doable. Here's an example:


Resolution: I'd like to lose 15 pounds by July.
Monthly goal: I'd like to lose 2.5 pounds each month.
Weekly goal: I will work out 6+ hours a week (this is something I actually already do, believe it or not! Haha)
Daily goals: I will track my food every day and make sure to stay within my calorie range as much as possible (this is something I'm currently working on). I will also have at least 60g of protein in my diet to help with my strength training. 


Also know that it's beneficial to make multiple resolutions for all areas of your life! At first I thought that would be overwhelming and that it would make me stretch myself too thin, but guess what? When I got serious about my health, I started seeing success in other areas of my life. I felt more well-rounded. If I have multiple areas in my life that I'd like to improve, why not make goals for each of those areas?


These are some areas of my life I made resolutions for this year:
Health/Fitness
Organization
Business
Relationships/Family
Financial
Creativity/Music
etc.


And, of course, I had multiple goals for each of those categories, which I broke down.


Another thing I've learned is to let people know about your goals. It helps hold you accountable.  If it's deeply personal, you might not want to, but speaking your goals really helps.  Granted, I usually tell people who are involved in one area in my life about my goals for that area, not all of my goals. For instance, someone who is not interested in business might not want to hear about my business goals. And I'm going to tell my health goals to my workout buddies and the health website I visit frequently.


Lastly, know that it's ok if you don't reach your goals.  Don't beat yourself up if you didn't lose the weight you wanted to by a certain date. Re-adjust your goals and keep going.  I have had many goals in different areas of my life that I didn't hit, but every month, I assess where I'm at and adjust my goals accordingly.  Sometimes you might even overshoot your goals and you have to bump it up a notch! 


I hope this helps everyone with achieving their resolutions. Feel free to comment!