Its now the last week of January and for some their new years resolutions may have already been broken. In fact research shows that 84-96% of people have already given up on their resolutions.
At Salford City Clinic we wanted to give you some tips to helping you achieve not just a new years resolution but any change of habits or goals you set. So here are our 3 Top Tips.
1. Make Plans
Having a goal is great, you’ve decided to step out of your comfort zone and embrace a new challenge. Knowing how you are going to achieve it is vital to success. Those who don’t plan the actions they need to achieve the goals fail a lot more than those who don’t. So it doesn’t matter what your goal is. Once your goal is set, identify the how you’re going to achieve it with small achievable micro-goals. If exercising more is your goal, well you need to schedule time to exercise in you diary, decide what exercises you want to do that best suit your ability and goals and even make sure you remember you exercise kit in the morning before you head off to work. All these small steps make success more likely, because its too easy to say i forgot my kit and not do a workout that day or get to 8pm and feel too tired to exercise because you haven’t found time for it during the day.
2. Hold Yourself Accountable
Write your goal down in plain sight so you will see it everyday. This is a gentle reminder to you about your goals and your reason why you started this change. This will remind you to make this change a priority everyday. Remember its only you that loses out if you don’t hold yourself accountable because its only you that benefits from the change you’ve decided you need. In fact some studies suggest the more you discuss your goals with other people the less likely you are to succeed. This is due to your brain thinking that talking about your goals equals to completing the goal and gives you the same good feeling hormones that you would get for actually completing a task. All this means you are less motivated to then complete the goal. Walk the Walk don’t Talk the Talk.
3.Reward Yourself for Success
Positive reinforcement. Its hard enough sometimes to achieve your goal let alone keep that change consistent. If you see a change in your behaviour then you should absolutely reward yourself for doing so. This doesn’t mean if you lose 2kg you then go eat a 2Litre tub of ice cream. Instead it should be something you wouldn’t normally do. A reward needs to feel like a reward and not just something you would have done anyway.
