At NRG 4 Life we’ve replaced the term “New Year’s Resolutions” with “New Year’s Actions” because to resolve to do something and to take action are two completely different things. Our goal is to inspire you into taking action! The problem can be, however, we often wait to take action. We wait until we have the motivation. I’m suggesting you’ll be more successful reaching your goals if you switch that around by putting the ACTION BEFORE the motivation. Our brains can be our own worst enemies especially when it comes to exercise and more specifically when it comes to taking exercising on a regular basis. If we think about starting this goal long enough, we might never do it. I’m suggesting we evoke the action then the motivation comes.
Unfortunately, some people wait for the “perfect time” before taking action. They wait until they’ve bought the new shoes, until their kids are finished hockey for the year. They wait until they’re back from vacation etc etc…There’s all kinds of scenarios…don’t wait, sometimes we need to take a leap of faith and know we’ll grow our wings as we go along. I’m not suggesting people don’t do their due diligence, however, why not just take the action? There’s many times we should get out of our heads and adopt the Nike slogan: Just do it!
In a recent book I’ve picked up, The Happiness Equation by Neil Pavricha, I learned a great quote that ties in with philosophy: “It’s easier to ACT yourself into a new way of thinking than THINK yourself into a new way of acting.” Hmm…good one, eh?!
Now getting back to exercise, I’d like to share with you another tip week that I think can help to bring your fitness resolutions to fruition and that’s work out first thing in the morning. The upside to working out in the morning might just inspire night owls to become morning people! Exercising before our main breakfast has been linked recently to effective fat loss. Now I don’t want to mislead you, we still need to have a light snack (consisting of carbs, protein & fat) about 30-60 min’s before our morning workouts to avoid feeling light headed and to get our metabolism revved up (which in turn keeps our bodies in high fat burning mode), however, save your full breakfast until after your workout! Recent research tells us morning workouts can be the most efficient to way to burn calories. Also, getting your workout done first thing ensures it’s completed before the day gets away from you, not to mention keep you energized throughout the day.
Lastly this week I’d like to touch on Blue Monday – as it’s classified as the 3rd Monday of January – you may have experienced this phenomenon this past Monday. Where did this evolve from? This came about from post-Christmas debt, seasonal effective disorder (not seeing the sun because we live north of the 42nd latitude) and a perceived failed attempt at New Year’s resolutions ie. if we haven’t hit the gym or haven’t started eating healthier then we’re hard ourselves etc…let’s get real, and cut ourselves some slack. We’re not even a month into the new year. We have not failed if we haven’t taken action towards our goals yet! It is important to know that only approximately 8% of people actually reach their goals. Part of the reason is that we don’t have the HABITS to sustain the goal. Research from a recent study at Duke University says that 40% of our behavior is based on habit. Not only do we need to know what we want to achieve, but also the habits we need to attach to it to make it stick. In the case of exercise, that means 3 workouts a week to start with and 60 min’s of activity or approximately 10 000 steps daily. Speak to a certified Personal Trainer to have them help you with a plan to form a habit. Here at NRG we have about 45 highly motivating classes per week to choose from. These classes are fun and motivating. The instructors will give you what you need to create the habit. It’s all about showing up, eating clean, and getting sufficient sleep. This is not rocket science. Adopt the habits, take the action and the motivating results will follow. Here’s a few habits to help you with your goals whether they be exercise or other types of goals.
Habit #1 – Write it down. According to the above mentioned study, only 1 in 10 000 people write them down. If it’s not written down, it’s more of an idea not an actual goal. This makes it intentional and an action plan can be put it into place. Put it in one place in a book, your phone, something you can look at all the time as a reminder.
Habit #2 – Measure it. You need to scale it. Where are you at and where do you want to be? For example if the goal is to eat healthier, list where you are now on a scale of 1-10 – maybe it’s a 3 and where you want to be by the end of the year, which might be an 8.
Habit #3 – Only focus on ONE goal at a time. If your goal for example is learning to cook healthier, just focus on trying only one good recipe each week. Use it, learn it and then try a new one next week.
Let’s JUST DO IT!