Having a fuzzy woolly reason for wanting to stick with this new resolution is not going to be what pushes you to stop hitting the snooze button and head to the gym/yoga class. It is not going to help you start doing air squats after a long tiresome day at work. The human condition is such that we resist change both physically and mentally. I believe that it is an evolved version of the flight or fight response that humans have developed to protect themselves from threat. Yes, keep to what is comfortable and safe.
Having a very tangible WHY helps keep you driven, it helps you overcome those irrational need to stick in the comfort zone. So, sit down and write out 2 to 3 bullet points to the statement “I want to get fitter because…”. I know some may say “yeah Dee, been there done that but it does not work” but please hear me out.
The difference this time is this:
1. It must be compelling for you
Stop putting woolly statements like “I just want to be healthy”. I get this a lot and personal observation shows that 9 out of 10 persons who say that never fully achieve their goals. It is just like “I just want to be happy in life” or “I just want to be rich” – does that make us any richer or happier? We have to articulate what makes us happy and what we want to do with all that newfound wealth to make it tangible. For instance, I started out with a statement that “I want to be fitter because I want to be able to play physical games like basketball, tennis or even tag with my kids at age 50. I do not ever want to disappoint my kids saying Daddy can’t play cause he hurt his back.
I had a close friend who would not do anything that would break a trickle of sweat even if bribed. But he was willing to take some, punishment (in his word) to ensure he could carry his lovely daughter on a planned overseas travel without getting a slip disc.
In Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Body, he shared how Chad Fowler, CTO of InfoEther, lost 70+ pounds in less than a year after 10 years of just living with obesity.
2. Follow up with a Milestone goal
Each bullet point above has to be a SMART goal. SMART stands for Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound goal. For my case, I committed to build up my cardio fitness to finish in 8 months’ time a 10km competitive run event within cut-off time.
3. Follow that up with Process goals
Process goals are things you would do consistently to achieve your Milestone goals. I know many people (including myself) who panic one week before the dateline because we are nowhere near achieving our milestone goal. In my case, I committed as a process goal to do 20-minutes jog once a week as a start and built that up to 3 times a week. It started out more like a walk..haha!
Fit Couch Potato 