Hints, Tips and Tricks to Killing Your New Year Goals

1. Tell People About It

The only reason people keep their goals and resolutions a secret is because they’re afraid of failure. The trouble with this is it means you’ve got no degree of accountability.

By not telling people what you’re looking to do you’re giving yourself a get out of jail free card. If no one knows your goals, no one will know when you fail. So grow some cojones, and tell as many people as possible.

2. Make a Schedule

Decided you’re going to train three times per week? Then do it.

Take your 2014 diary and plan in your sessions for the whole year now.

If you’ve got holidays, days out, meetings and trips booked later in the year, that’s fine, you don’t have to train on the same three days every week and you are allowed breaks. You may even have to change a few of these nearer the time, but chances are you’ll be able to make a good 80 percent of your planned sessions.

3. Be Antisocial

Not in general, but be antisocial in the gym.

Firstly, go at odd times. This means early mornings, late at night, weekends or during the day where possible.

By far the worst time to go is straight after work, between 5 and 7pm, closely followed by the morning rush around 7am. If you can train before 7am, get away from work for a few hours or train in your lunch, or even hit the gym late in the evening, it’ll be quieter, you’ll have fewer distractions and will get much more done.

If the worst comes to the worst, stick some headphones in, and just get down to business during peak times.

4. Have a Plan

Pick a workout plan and stick with it. If you’re entirely clueless about what to do, that’s absolutely fine, but hire a qualified, experienced trainer to set you up with a workout.

The same goes for diet too. Whatever you choose to do, whether it’s counting calories and macronutrients, following a method like Paleo or The Zone, or simply trying to eat a little less and make healthier choices, have a firm grasp of what you’re going to do and persevere with it.

Read More: New Year’s Resolution: How To Make Lifestyle Changes For The Long Haul

5. Make Mini Goals

At any point throughout the year you should know whether you’re on track for your ultimate goal. Something as simple as dropping 7 pounds by the end of January and 25 pounds by June, or wanting to be at 15% body fat by April and 12% by your July summer holiday gives you much clearer objectives than just “losing weight.”