The New Year can often bring a feeling of renewed optimism. A fresh start, an opportunity to move on, turn over a new leaf, a time when it seems we can change ourselves and redefine who we are. Sadly this feeling often doesn’t last and by the end of January many of those who bothered to make New Year Resolutions have broken them, become despondent and dispirited. In one study, led by Richard Wiseman a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire found that less than a quarter were successful at sticking to their resolutions.

Yet each year many people DO manage to quit smoking, loose weight, run marathons and a whole host of other achievements. What makes the difference, why do some succeed where so many others fail?

There is no magic formula, and relying on will power alone won’t work. However, when we look at how some people achieve their goals we can see common traits and strategies that are more likely to meet with success. Goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based.

S - specific – clearly define your goal

M - measurable – how will you judge your progress to the goal

A - achievable – do you have the necessary skills/ knowledge

R - realistic – honestly evaluate the size of your goal

T - time-based – put a time limit to your goal

Goals need to be clearly defined; if you can’t see the target how will you know if you’ve hit it? A term like “wanting to be fitter” is too vague, lacks clear parameters and has no markers along the way to judge progress. Let’s take an example of someone who feels pretty out of condition and considers themselves unfit. A measure of their current level of fitness can be obtained through a variety of tests, observation etc and from this a base line can be established. This will help us with the next bit of the process in being able to “measure” progress and end result. When we have established current fitness ability we’ll also be able to be “specific” about what needs to be achieved – being able to walk for 30 minutes might be the goal. Is the goal “achievable”? Someone who gets breathless walking for 10 minutes can work towards an “achievable” goal of longer stretches of walking but running a Marathon would be “unrealistic” in the short term. This takes us to the importance of “time-based” goals; a week training programme to be able to walk for 30 minutes might be unrealistic whereas a three month walking programme would set a realistic time frame for the goal to be achieved.
The SMART goal approach will set you on the right track to achieve you New Year’s Resolution but there are a few other tricks worth knowing about.

1. Break your goal down into smaller chunks and reward and recognise your progress along the way. For example; someone who falls well short of the recommended minimum of 30 minutes a day moderate cardiovascular activity a day might aim for 10 minutes a day at first.
2. Write you goals down, commit them to paper and tell other people you rely on for support and encouragement. Telling people about our goals has been shown to be very effective and helps people adhere to them.
3. Enlist some specialist help where necessary. This is when a Personal Trainer can be your biggest allay in supporting you to your health and fitness goals and links back to “a – achievable” in SMART goals. You may not have the necessary skills and knowledge to know how to go about achieving your goal so seek help if needed.
4. Don’t beat yourself up over occasional lapses, accept them as temporary setbacks, take stock of the situation, acknowledge how much progress you have made and revisit your clearly defined goal to set you on the right path again.
5. Do it with friends! Try pairing up with a friend who shares a similar goal. This is particularly helpful when it comes to exercise as we know that people who exercise with a friend are more likely to find it enjoyable and stick with the training. As a PT I often train partners and friends together and this makes for a great session!
6. Make it fun! If you have followed all the advice but your diet is boring as hell or you simply hate your exercise activity you are most unlikely to stick with it. A healthy diet doesn’t have to be boring; home made fruit smoothies can be delicious, healthy and are much better for you than artificially sweetened drinks and a good workout should be one you look forward to, not see as a chore.
7. Aim high! Many of us believe we probably won’t be able to achieve our real goal so we aim for something a little lower, a little less inspiring because we don’t want to fail. Guess what? The goal is so uninspiring we can hardly be bothered to go for it! So be imaginative and don’t be frightened to think BIG then all you have to do is break it down into a sequence of mini goals which ultimately leads to your BIG goal!

Here’s to a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!