Why I Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the new year and all the promise it brings.

So, we’re three days into 2014. Raise your hand if you’ve already broken your New Year’s Resolutions. 🙂

Sometimes no matter how hard we try, we find it impossible to do the things we really want to do or know we should do. That’s why I don’t make resolutions anymore. Instead, I set goals for the year.

What’s the difference? Well, a resolution is decision-oriented whereas a goal is action-oriented.

For example, many people say they resolve to lose weight and become healthier in the new year. That’s all fine and good but usually this means they will try to eat better and exercise more without having a clear plan.Then after not seeing results they become discouraged and quit.

Having a goal to lose 30 pounds by June 1 by following a specific plan is more likely to be successful. To make it a real goal though it must be SMART.

Specific. Make your goal specific like lose 30 pounds by June 1 instead of saying lose weight this year.

Measurable. Your goal needs to be quantifiable. Making something quantifiable means you can measure and see if you’ve reached your goal. Like my example above, say you want to lose 30 pounds instead of saying you want to lose weight.

Actionable. Your goal should start with a verb such as lose, run, write, etc. instead of a to-be verb such as am, be, have. Say “lose weight” instead of “be healthier.”

Realistic. Setting a goal to lose 30 pounds in one month is not realistic. Make sure you give yourself enough time to be successful.

Time-bound. Give yourself a deadline to meet your goal. If you have no firm date, you may not have the discipline to keep pursuing it.

I’ve mentioned one of my goals for the year…losing weight. Let me share how I plan to achieve this goal.

For the next 6 weeks I’ll be following the Shred weight-loss plan. I’ve researched many options and have chosen this one because it is a jump-start plan to help me achieve a healthier lifestyle. It also features normal, everyday foods instead of trying to force me to eat a lot of strange and possibly expensive items. This will make it easier to prepare meals that the whole family can eat.

I also like this plan because it is very detailed. The book provides a menu for each meal and snack everyday for 6 six weeks. The plan is also flexible, so I can choose foods that work best for me.

The exercise portion is also very doable for me. This plan focuses mainly on cardio activities for the 6 weeks. After I’ve gone through the plan, I can begin to focus on strength training. By focusing on cardio, I can begin training for running another 5K.

Using the Shred plan will jump-start my weight loss and put me on a path toward healthy living. However, there are a few things I still have to do to insure I reach my weight loss goal.

Experts say logging what you eat and how much you exercise helps you to achieve your weigh loss goals. So, I’ll be using the Lose It! app to log my food and exercise. I’ll also use it to track how much water I drink. Part of my plan to lose weight includes drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day while limiting diet drinks.

After the initial 6 week plan, I hope to be better prepared to eat healthier foods and will have a ton of new healthier meal ideas.

I’ve tried many weight loss plans over the years. I’m tired of trying “plans.” I want to have a healthier lifestyle so that I don’t ever have to be on a “plan” again.

Next week I’ll share a few more goals and how I intend to accomplish them. These will include a Bible reading plan, scrapbooking, and organization projects.

Later this month I’ll post a video showing you my process for setting goals and keeping up with the details of those goals so that I can make sure I reach them.

What goals do you have for 2014?