Happy New Year to all of y'all out there! I sincerely hope everyone is having a spectacular 2013 so far. This is going to be your best year yet! Right? How can't it be? You're going to resolve to get fit, make better decisions about your health and wellness, eat better, drink less alcohol, etc. Just think ahead to 2014.....you're going to be an entirely new and different person because of your strong will and resolve to stick to your goals throughout the coming year. Sound familiar?
Well buckle up kids cause here comes your reality check. 45% of Americans make resolutions. 8% are successful in keeping them. 47% of all resolutions involve some form of self-improvement. 38% of all resolutions involve weight management issues. Whether you resolve to drink less alcohol, eat healthier, get fit, quit smoking, get a better job or spend more time with family, your chances of success are only 8%. That's incredibly pathetic if you want my honest opinion. Are we that much of a mess? Only 8% of Americans can get healthier? If that's the case, then we're screwed even worse than I thought we were in 2012! It makes me sad to think of all the disappointed, let down people who gave it their all only to fail miserably in a battle where they hardly had a fighting chance to begin with. Perhaps the solution to this problem is in the way we set our goals. Many people tend to go all in and say they're going to quit something "cold turkey" only to realize they had no chance of accomplishing that.
To be successful in the pursuit of a goal, any goal, we must be realistic in how we attempt to change our lifestyle. I propose to many people that I work with to begin with small goals, like having 3 consecutive days of nutrition that would score you a letter grade of B or better. After those 3 days, you'll certainly begin to feel better, but you'll also feel a sense of accomplishment that will propel you to setting your next short term goal. Sure enough, many consecutive, more realistic goals will compound to produce a wave of results that may not have been achievable if you tried to go "cold turkey."
With that thought in mind, I suggest a New Year's Revolution! A revolution where we revolt against the prescribed idea of setting a goal and failing. With the right support system and the correct intention, we can begin to set and achieve goals that will inevitably lead us to our ultimate goal of looking or living a certain way. I have difficulty believing that as a nation we are only capable of achieving 8% of our goals. I think the method is flawed. It seems like an injustice to ourselves to say that we will definitely change something specific within 365 days, if we haven't yet tried to do it for a month, 2 months, 3 months, etc.
No where is this example more true than with exercise. Everyone decides on January 1st that they're going to hit the gym and work out like a maniac until they look how they want to. Many people haven't made the necessary adjustments to their lifestyle to make that realistic. How can you go to the gym 4-5 times a week for an entire year if you haven't adjusted your other commitments, (family, friends, work, church, etc) to allow for the necessary gym time? What works better is to adjust things in your life just for 1 week and see how many times you can realistically get to the gym. Then do that for another week. Before you know it, it's been 5 consecutive weeks and you feel better. That's certainly something to be proud of. Have we made the necessary changes in life to sleep more? Prepare healthy food options? Without those factors being fine tuned, you can hit the gym all you want and you'll only find yourself making miniscule results.
If much of what I'm saying is making the big picture look the the dilemma Sisyphus faced in Corinth, don't retreat just yet. Trying to be successful this coming year isn't as bleak as trying to push a rock up a mountain. What's required is the help of a true professional to set up the right program, one that's based on your specific needs and correcting your dysfunctions. Search all you want, but you'll never find more qualified people to assist you than you will at Functional Fitness and Wellness Centers in Boulder, Colorado. Here, owner and founder Sam Iannetta has a trained team of professionals equipped with the tools necessary to create an emotionally supportive and progressive plan for increasing your health and wellness in this new year. We can clearly see what happens if we try to tackle these goals on our own. Remember the 8% thing?
For guaranteed results and to start feeling the best you ever have, check out www.functionalfitnessusa.com and strongly consider bringing one of the experts at Functional Fitness into your team of supporters to ensure you begin and end your journey with the highest amount of success and life lasting results. Thank you and good luck.
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