Bring Your New Year's Resolution Back To Life

The New Year naturally gives you "fresh start" vibes, so you probably always start January with good intentions and brand new ambitions. Once the Christmas decorations come down, the leftovers have finally been eaten, and the last family party has come to an end, it’s time to jump back on the wagon, and undo a month of dieting debauchery.

If you’re anything like most people, you’ve probably actually had your New Year resolutions planned for months. Many people decide in October or November that they want to lose weight and get fitter, yet put off actually doing anything about it until the annual festivities are out of the way.

Brushing aside the fact that actually, you’d probably have been far better off making a start and getting your goal chasing underway when you first thought about making big changes, congratulations on making a New Year's resolution and deciding to do something to better yourself.

There’s one big problem with New Year's resolutions though – they don’t work.

Resolutions tend to be very enforced. It’s the done thing to make one, and most people make them more out of a sense of obligation, rather than genuinely wanting to make a positive change. Even if you do really want to stick to yours, it’s incredibly easy to get dragged down by other people who couldn’t stick to theirs. By February, you’re back at square one, only with a hole in your wallet from January’s gym fees, those diet shakes you bought but never used, and the expensive new gym kit you decided was a must.

The trouble many people have is that their goals seem sterile, out of reach and lifeless.

It’s all very well and good to write down “I want to lose 20 pounds” or saying to a friend “I think I’m going to lose some weight this year” but that just doesn’t cut it. Saying something is easy, but doing it is tough.

Rather than saying “I want to” or “I’d like to” or anything that leaves you with a loophole to get out of, make sure you start every resolution with the phrase “I will.” It might sound corny, but by making a commitment to yourself and saying that you’re definitely going to do something means you’re far more likely to succeed.

Don’t just say it to yourself either – write it down, tell friends, family and work colleagues and anyone who’ll listen. The more you say it, the more real your goal becomes, and the higher the price of giving up. Instead of feeling like you just didn't start yet, you'll feel like a failure. Nobody likes that, so making your resolution public can be very motivating.

People often envisage a slimmer, fitter version of themselves, but that image is just a pipedream, or mirage, because most people don’t actually believe they’ll actually be able to look like that. You’ve probably heard someone pick up a fitness magazine or look at a trim celebrity in the paper and remark “I’ll never look like that” but by saying that, you’re already setting yourself up for failure.

Get your goal firmly set in your head, and create the perfect image of what you want to look like. This isn’t a dream, it is what you’ll look like in 12 months time.