I must admit I am not much for making a New Years Resolution and according to a couple of polls I looked up, 38% of the population is with me on that.
In my opinion if it was on my heart to make a change in my life I wouldn’t wait until the first of the year or the first of the month, or next Monday, or tomorrow. If I really wanted to make a change I would do it right here and now.
Only 64% of those that make a resolution will make it through the first month of the year with their resolution intact.
Not to mention those who make a fitness/health or wellness New Year's resolution have given up on that same or similar resolution four times in the past. That is a lot of people when you consider that
five of the top seven New Years Resolutions
made are health, fitness and wellness related.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vbw5sqD7lc
A Better Way of Ensuring You Attain Your New Year's Goals

Not a great track record.
If this sounds like you, all is not lost!
So how can you break this cycle if you are one of those that fit this description, you may ask. S.M.A.R.T. goals!
It is not hard to find studies that show a correlation between goal setting and success rate. Make sure your goal is important to you and is motivating as well. You need to think of your goal as a target.
To hit a personal target (aka Goal) what do you need?
Pinpoint focus and accuracy not a vague, random intention. What is so special about a S.M.A.R.T. goal
you may be asking yourself right about now. Well… S.M.A.R.T. goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.[tweet_box float="right" width="40%" design="box_10"]The first step is to write your S.M.A.R.T. goal down starting with making it SPECIFIC.[/tweet_box]
The first step is to write your S.M.A.R.T. goal down starting with making it
SPECIFIC.
Think about the who, what, when, where and how of your goal. Take your time and list action steps to take to achieve your goal. It may seem silly to some but a written plan really does help your cause.
Your goal needs to be
MEASURABLE.
How often have you stated that your New Years Resolution is to lose weight?
Ahhh…OK…and??? How much weight? What is seen as success and what is not? That classic resolution is way too vague.
Try putting a measurable parameter to it, state how many pounds you want to lose by the end of the year, for instance, or what percent of body fat you want to lose. Seems simple, but all too often people just state that they want to lose weight and that’s it.
Is your Goal attainable?
Your goal needs to be
ATTAINABLE, but you need to ask yourself, ‘what resources do I need to hit my goal.’ What do I need? How will I find the time? Who can I talk to for support? What do I need to learn more about to meet my goal?

There is no way you will be motivated to carry through with your goal if the goal you set isn’t relevant to you. Write out and list reasons you want to make your goal. Put that list on a sticky note and post it in places where you will see it often (on your car dash, on the fridge door or on your bathroom mirror for a constant reminder).
Put a deadline (a
TIME
line) on your goal and set some benchmark goals to keep you on track and to motivate you along the way.
Let’s use the classic “I want to lose weight” New Years Resolution for instance.
Let’s be a bit more specific and say instead I want to lose 60 lbs by the end of the coming year.
So if I divide 60 lbs by 12 months I get 5 lbs per month. That gives me 12 benchmarks to shoot for during the year and celebrate to keep me motivated along the way. If that was still too infrequent you can always divide 5 lbs by 4 weeks in a month and track 1.25 lbs a week if you needed. Think about it this way 60 lbs can seem like a pretty intimidating number but if you break it down to 1.25 lbs a week it doesn’t sound that bad and in fact sounds quite doable.
I know it probably sounds like I am poo-pooing New Years Resolutions.
However, before I come under fire for that let me explain my plan or theory. I am a bucket list guy personally. Meaning I sit down toward the end of the year and I make a list of events I want to compete or take part in during the coming year. All of my workouts or training goals revolve around training for those events.

For instance on my calendar for the first half of the year you will find a 5 km run, a Mud Run, the bike leg of two relay triathlon, a biathlon and 3 century bike rides. The dates are on the calendar, the goals are specific, and all my workouts are focused around those events to keep me accountable. That’s just what works for me personally. I will admit I have tried the New Years Resolution thing and every time I was lucky to last a month.
Meh, I am human, what can I say?
Should I even bother setting a New Year's Goal?
When you think about it, it makes sense that health and fitness resolutions are so popular.
Remember that one-third of the U.S. population is classified as obese and obesity related conditions like heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, etc., etc., are all on the rise. You know it’s bad when the Centers for Disese Control and Prevention (CDC) weighs in on the subject.
T
he CDC states that only 48% of the population meets minimum activity guideline and that inactivity increases the risk of those same health conditions that result from obesity
.
Hmmm…maybe there is a correlation between obesity and inactivity? What are those guidelines you may ask?
The CDC recommends:
- 2.5 hrs a Week of Moderate Aerobic Activity With 2 or More Days of Resistance/Strength Exercise
- 1.25 hrs a Week of Vigorous Aerobic Activity With 2 or More Days of Resistance/Strength Exercise
How many times have you heard someone say they don’t have time to workout?

In the grand scheme of things if we round it off for easy math let’s say it’s five hours a week. If you take that and calculate what percentage of time that is in your week it comes out to roughly 3% of your week. That is it!
Only 3% of your week
working out to hit the minimum set by the CDC.
That doesn’t sound that hard does it?
[divider style="dashed" top="15" bottom="15"]
Author Bio: Tim Clark
Tim is a full-time gym manager/personal trainer, part-time gym designer, part-time blogger and part-time psuedo-entertaining public speaker as well as an ex-college athlete and ex-firefighter with a BS Degree from Fresno State in Kinesiology as well as an AS degree in Respiratory Therapy. His passion is seeing everyday people get healthy and live life to the fullest.
“My heart breaks for those that want to get healthy but are too intimidated to go to a gym. I strive to break those barriers and bring the vast and complex world of fitness to the common man. I love working with people fresh off the couch and turning them on to a life of health and fitness! It is a HUGE reward to get to be a small part of giving someone a second chance at living! To be more specific I LOVE to see someone like that have their ‘AH-HA!’ moment and realize there is an athlete within. That is my passion and my pay off. That is what drives me to do what I do.”
Tim can be followed via:
Facebook
, LinkedIn, the Community Medical Center Fit for Life Blog or reached directly by email at
tclark@communitymedical.org
[divider style="dashed" top="15" bottom="15"]