Well, the world was supposed to end on December 21st so na na na na boo boo to the Incan calendar and Nostradamus (yeah apparently he predicted that when “Gangnam style” hit a billion views, it’d be lights out planet Earth – Google it, you’ll see).

Well, we made it, and holy shitballs it’s January 1st!!!

Doesn’t the act of putting up the new calendar necessitate us getting busy making resolutions? 

I’m definitely not a descendant of any ancient  Andrean civilization nor am I of de Nostradame lineage (am I Dad?) but I’ll make a little prediction (actually I’m poaching someone else’s research here) in stating that only 8% of people who make new year's resolutions will be able to succeed at them entirely to their satisfaction.

Statistics from a 2012 study by the University of Scranton:
·   Losing weight is the #1 most common resolution;
·   46% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions;
·   76% maintain their resolutions through the 1st week, 46% go past 6 months;
·   39% of people in their 20's fulfill their resolution, while only 14% over the age of 50 do.

We do it year after year… in fact we’re encouraged to do it, but why do we so commonly fail at fulfilling our resolutions? 
(I’m going to continue by being a little more specific to fitness “resolutions”, but I do feel that these same thoughts are applicable to resolutions in other facets of our lives as well).

1.    We don’t set our goals appropriately.  Either we aim too high or too low.  We set out with an “all-or-nothing” approach, leaving us feeling deprived and frustrated, or we allow ourselves too much leeway, excuses creep in and before we know it we’re right back where we started. 
2.    We proceed with  too much gusto. You’ve heard the expression, "Rome wasn't built in a day"?  Well our goals aren’t going to be achieved overnight regardless of how gung-ho we are.
3.    We lack knowledge.  We think that the internet and/ or a subscription to [insert magazine title in the area of interest here] will garner us the knowledge that we require to achieve our goals. 
4.    We don’t see results fast enough.  Results take time and consistent effort.  It’s a marathon – not a sprint.
5.    We have no concept of improvement.  People fail to objectively monitor their progress.  Small improvements become overshadowed by the fact that we haven’t met our goal yet.   
6.    We lack true conviction.  The word “resolution” is defined as the act of resolving to do (or not do) something… the making of a firm decision, and undertaking this decision with determination.  But I think we’ve come to  place some mystical power in the word.  We’re led to believe that “if we say it out loud, then it will come to pass” and this gives us false hope and removes the need for the determination which is engrained in the definition of the word.  January 1st rolls around and “Oh, it’s resolution time again… hmm… what do I want to do this year?”

Unfortunately, changing a habit(s) takes effort – there’s no easy way to make it happen, no genie will pop out and grant us our wish, and ultimately the question arises, “how badly do you want it”? Unfortunately, far too often, not badly enough.

I was recently asked to write down 5 tips to help succeed in achieving your goals in the New Year… well, I didn't stop at 5 and I came up with what I feel are 7 valuable suggestions to help you set off on the right foot, beat the Vegas odds, and hopefully achieve what it is you’ve said you want to do.

My 7 tips for successful Resolutioning:

1.    Start now.
2.    Set goals and make a plan
3.    Enjoy it
4.    Think long-term
5.    Don’t think perfect… think  “better” 
6.    R&R
7.    Get help 

Over the next 7 days, I will discuss each one of these points in a little more depth, so stay tuned...

Please feel free to comment below, on my Facebook Page or on Twitter (#ResolutionRoadTrip).

I watched a pretty cool video yesterday.  “A Toy Train in Space” documents a father and son sending the boy’s favorite toy, a toy train named “Stanley”, to the reaches of space. With the use of a weather balloon and a box that housed a mounted HD camera and an old cell phone for GPS, the toy train took an hour long trip to the stratosphere and then, once the balloon burst, he took a quick 20 minute free fall back to Earth for the father and son to retrieve 27 miles away from their original launch site.

I’m not sure how the correlation was made in my head (ask my clients, synaptic firings often leave me a bit perplexed) but I began to think of the journeys towards health and wellness that we embark on.

After our initial idea, the journey typically starts out with some deliberation and planning following which we develop something of a loose flight plan.  We figure out our strategic approach to moving towards our selected objectives, regardless of what they are.  We do some reading and ask some questions.  Maybe we put pen to paper and do a bit of fine tuning to our original strategy.  Then hopefully we put this into action and set it free.  We start journaling our food intake, maybe even do some food preparation.  We join the local fitness centre, maybe we actually go.  We get some personal training sessions or buy some DVDs.  We sweat a little and curse a lot, and eventually start to gain some momentum.

Hopefully this flight path continues.  Unfortunately far too often we reach the metaphorical 18 mile mark and our balloon bursts and all of the progress that we’ve made comes crashing down – usually a little ways away from our original starting point (a few pounds heavier, a few more injuries or a little uncertain about what we just endured and what began as a solid game plan – how could this not have worked).

But from here we have a few options:

1/ Pick ourselves up and resolve ourselves to being content where we’re at.  Shit, we tried didn’t we?  “Maybe I’m just not cut out to [insert goal of choice here]”!

2/ Find another weather balloon and try all over again to see if we can get a bit higher this time.  Well, we might, but chances are that at roughly the same proximity to the sun, that balloon will burst.  And after a few weather balloons, this game will just get plain ol’ tiresome.  Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different outcome.

3/ Look at other ways to get our train into space.  There is more than one way to skin a cat after all? (is it still okay to say that or am I going to be condemned by animal rights activists?)  Maybe we try the approach of Icarus and mold wings with wax and feathers – maybe it’s a slower ascent, maybe we can’t go as high, but perhaps our goal was too lofty in the first place.  Perhaps we spend a bit more time planning and take the approach of the Wright brothers.


And here’s where I move away from my train-in-space analogy...

With respect to The Law of Gravity, Newton was right in claiming that “what goes up must come down”.  But as with space travel, we are able to move beyond gravitational pull and we can align our efforts to exceed any forces or urges that we experience that cause us to plummet.  We can call this triumph... SUCCESS.

Yes it takes planning.  Yes it takes perseverance.   Yes it may even take some time.  But it is possible. What stands between you and your dream is the willingness to start, the courage to move ahead and the faith to finish.


Suggestions:

1/ Dare to dream.
2/ Develop your game plan.
3/ Follow your game plan to the best of your ability... no half measures, no excuses.
4/ If you don’t meet your objectives, re-evaluate.  Honestly.  Did you follow your game plan? Did you give it your best shot?  Was your initial goal too lofty?
5/ Don’t give up.  Don’t give in.  Be strong in your conviction to achieve greater heights.
6/ Become addicted to constant and never ending self improvement.

I've been chomping at the bit for the past three months, eager to spew out some thoughts and let my fingers do some talking.  Ever since I posted “Choices” on November 17th, I’ve been wanting to write a sequel – come on, trilogies are the big thing aren’t they?  So finally, a culmination of reading, personal reflection, and a number of recent readings have led to this...

“It's too hard, only if you think that it is...”

Our behaviour depends on our attitude.  It’s as simple as that!  There are loads of books and articles out there on success and positive thinking.  I don’t care.  It’s my turn!

I’m going to go a bit beyond the whole “when you smile the whole world smiles at you” thing here.  I’m going to push some buttons and tell you to get out of your own way, exit the pity party in which you convince yourself how rough things are, and change your attitude – your success depends on it (and this applies to all facets of life – not just results in the gym)!

London 2012.  The Summer Olympics are upon us and I love it.  Every four years you find yourself spending an afternoon watching equestrian jumping and wondering what advantage cocaine would give the rider (Eric Lamaze reference).  But amidst the doping scandals come some of the most amazing stories of success amidst injury, illness, loss and hardship.  In recent Games: Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette skating to bronze days after her mother died of a heart attack; or  Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic, who fell into a three-metre deep ravine while on a training run breaking four ribs, puncturing a lung, and goes on to win a Bronze medal.  What is it that enables some people to preserver and conquer adversity?

They breathe the same air as we do.  They hurt like we do (probably even more).  They bleed the same colour blood as we do.  They have feelings like we do, and laugh and cry and get disappointed like we do.  I’m sure they even think about quitting.  But somewhere they’ve learned to push all of these things aside and focus on what they really want.  Whether through relentless training of their bodies and minds, or through the trials that they have had to overcome in their lives, they have developed the ability to focus, and think about nothing but success. 

There are all kinds of numbers thrown out there as to how much more capable we are than we actually think we are.  The bottom line is that WE ARE!  Our brains are SOBs that dictate how we respond.  If something’s tough, our brains say “Ouch!  Okay enough.  You should stop now!”  They really are our downfall. 

And yeah, I know some of you are sitting there thinking “Come on, these are Olympians!  How can you even use them as an example?”  But right there, in that simple thought process, you’ve given yourself an excuse to give up.   You have processed what you read and come out thinking “I can’t”, and that is the biggest roadblock to achieving what you are truly capable of.  “I can’t” is, at best, an assumption which limits the actions that we are willing to take and can easily translate into “I don’t want this bad enough”.   

So yeah, you know what?  You do have to change your mindset and force yourself to adopt a more positive attitude.

“Lose the ‘tude dude”

This is something that my father used to say to me when I was growing up, when I was acting a bit too big for my britches and it was time to be brought back to reality.  Well I’m gonna use it here to tell you to eliminate that negative thinking.

If you're like most people, you've endured some tough things in your life. Jobs, moves, relationships, births, deaths – all of these fit the description.  In reality, you ARE able to deal with hard things.  So instead defaulting to “this is too hard” or “I can’t do this!”, or, seeing slow progress and speedbumps as signs that you aren’t succeeding or can’t do something, remind yourself, "Of course it's going to be hard, but I've done other challenging things in my life (insert specific event here), and this isn't any different.” Whenever you start thinking “it's too hard" - to stick to my plan, to finish this last set of my workout, to turn away from that plate of desert, think about some of challenges you've faced in the past – yeah, those ones... the ones that have got you to where you are today.

“Fake it ’til you make it”

If ya can’t rationalize and convince yourself that YOU REALLY CAN DO THIS – hell, then trick it! 

-    Laugh!  That’s right, find some humour in what you’re about to endure.  “1 more set (insert uproarious laughter here)... all right... here we go!”
-    Enjoy it despite how tough it may seem.  Enjoy the feeling of hard work.  Know that the reward at the end, the satisfaction that you will feel is worth every bit of hardship that you’re about to endure.  Feel the reward already building.
-    Develop a positive mantra or positive thought pattern that overrides the negative.  I’ve vowed that if I ever run another marathon, I’m going to write in black Sharpie down my arm “Oprah did it”.  It might not be the most positive line, but I guarantee it’ll keep me going.
-    Exude positivity!  This differs from cockiness.  Stand tall, smile proudly.  This will tell your brain that YOU ARE IN CHARGE!  Flopping to the ground, gasping and groaning like you’re about to die communicates to your brain that you are done – good luck recovering from that.
-    Go Zen!  Don’t fight whatever it is you’re finding tough, flow with it.  Find grace in it.  Become one with it.  (okay, maybe a little too much at the end there).

“Embrace the suck”. 

This is military jargon translated into “the situation is bad... you might not like it... but deal with it”.  Why?  Because right now, in this situation, quitting is not an option!  “I WILL NOT QUIT!”   Do you really think that the last set of burpees is going to kill you?  It might feel like it, but likely it won’t. 

“Success is always sweetest when effort is the hardest.”  Most things are deemed valuable when we have to pay a lot for them... the same goes for hard work.

“Pain is temporary; quitting is forever”...  or at least until next time.

Quitting is setting up that room for future excuses.  Do it once and it becomes  so easy to do it again.  Somewhere your brain has to say... “I’m not giving up”.  I am dedicated to this cause – whether it be a workout, a weight loss endeavour, business or a relationship.  It’ll push you beyond what you thought possible and reset that standard for the next time you feel like quitting.

“See it to believe it”

I’m a big fan of “the mental video tape” aka visualization.  Play a quick movie in your head of you doing the task at hand.  See It.  Feel It.  And then achieve it.

I recently stumbled across Rachel Cosgrove’s “Fit Female Credo” (I’m not sure where it’s been hiding the past 2 years).  If you change a few of the words it’s a list of 16 fantastic gender-neutral “rules” that can be applied towards getting some great results from training (and life):
     #1 Act as if you are fit (I’ve changed this from “Act as if you are a fit female”) 
     #11 Think about your thoughts!
     #12 Attitude is everything!
     #16 Stop rationalizing and making excuses!


What do you want? The change is really up to YOU.