Do you really want to achieve the goal of losing those last 8 pounds of weight hanging on post-pregnancy in 3 months – only to put it back on? Do you really want to “quit” smoking for 6 months – and then restart? The efforts and dedication that we put into achieving these results seems pointless if we simply revert back to the way we were and the habits we had.
Today’s tip looks at making these results stick rather than just being a flash in the pan.
TIP #4 - THINK LONG-TERM
Today’s tip looks at making these results stick rather than just being a flash in the pan.
TIP #4 - THINK LONG-TERM
I KNOW WE WANT RESULTS NOW! I get it. But do me a favour for a second and rack your brain to think of how many people you know that have achieved great results through a quick-fix diet, or obsession with fitness and actually maintained these practices, and subsequently, maintained their results. Think of all the popular diet approaches: Atkins, South Beach, Slim Fast, Body by Vi - how many people do you know who made incredible progress on these programs, achieving their expectations and beyond, only to revert back to pre-program condition (or worse) at the conclusion. How many of the goals that you are setting have you previously set out to accomplish (and maybe succeeded in accomplishing)? Is this another attempt? Obviously there something in your methodology that prevented it from "sticking"... so let's start thinking "long term".
I can inundate you with quotes:
“Rome wasn’t built in a day”
“Good things come to those who wait”
“Slow and steady wins the race”
“Patience is a virtue”
AND THEY'RE ALL THE TRUTH.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day”
“Good things come to those who wait”
“Slow and steady wins the race”
“Patience is a virtue”
AND THEY'RE ALL THE TRUTH.
Don’t sabotage your ability to sustain your progress by finding quick-fixes and trying to take short-cuts. Commit fully to achieving your goals, but don’t become impatient. Your commitment indicates that you are in this for the long-haul, so buckle up and enjoy your ride to success. Develop habits which you can sustain for the duration of your quest and beyond – nothing stinks more than achieving your goal and then falling back into old patterns and subsequently returning to where you began this whole process.
Don't try to change everything at once. In formulating your goals, plan out the series of small steps that you are going to take to get you to your end result. Remember Dr. Leo Marvin’s book in the movie “What About Bob?” Take baby steps. Ease into it.
“Baby steps to working out 5 days a week”
“Baby steps to eating a healthier, more nutritious diet”
“Baby steps to getting more rest”
That said, these baby steps are not excuses to procrastinate. They are a chance to develop habits and let them stick before presenting yourself with new challenges.
“Baby steps to working out 5 days a week”
“Baby steps to eating a healthier, more nutritious diet”
“Baby steps to getting more rest”
That said, these baby steps are not excuses to procrastinate. They are a chance to develop habits and let them stick before presenting yourself with new challenges.
Resolve yourself right now to the fact that you are not going to get results overnight. This will take time. Whether the goals that we sit down and set for ourselves at the beginning of the year are deemed “short-term” (1 to 3 months) or “long-term”(6 months and beyond), these are just the due dates that we are establishing for ourselves (if you looked at the S.M.A.R.T. mnemonic for goal-setting, this represents the “time-oriented” component). We want the changes that we are about to make to be sustainable for a lifetime.
See ya tomorrow...
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