Home » goals » Page 4

Category: goals

Resolutions Smesolutions

I may have mentioned before that I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. I think that it’s important to recognize that you are fully capable of making a resolution right this second, this very day of the year, this singular moment before the next bite reaches your mouth. I think that the “I’ll start on Monday” mentality is, please forgive me, lazy. It’s a giant excuse not to take control of your own habits, bodies, responsibilities and health that you have full authority over. I like to keep in the practice of making resolutions the second I think of them. I don’t wait until Monday, I begin with my next meal or transaction.

However, I do appreciate the freshness that the New Year offers. The feeling of vitality all around you, the fresh outlook, that sense of starting over. Plus every business everywhere capitalizes on the New Year, so you might as well take advantage of those gym fee waivers and exercise equipment sales if you’re going that route.

I would like to offer a few tips from my own experience at forming New Year’s resolutions every year since I’ve understood the concept. Hey, just because I don’t agree with waiting until the New Year to tackle your ambitions doesn’t mean that I don’t like to use the date as a great time to re-evaluate where I’m going. So, my advice is to try to:

1. Practice your New Year’s resolutions a week or more in advance. This gives you a chance to work out the kinks, rework your schedule, and adjust the picture before you even start. If you plunge ahead on Jan 1 without any practice, it’s all too easy to fall for the all-or-nothing cop-out. My resolution for 2011 is to read through the Bible and I started in November so that I have plenty of “padding” for those days I know I’ll miss. Given enough time, I was able to find this Bible podcast and these complementary sermons that I can listen to while I’m working. Through this early trial, I also figured out that reading two Bible companions in tandem with the Bible readings is overkill and I know I cannot dedicate myself to that much cross-referencing and reading right now.

2. Jot down every obstacle you can foresee on one side of a piece of paper. On the other side, brainstorm solutions for overcoming those obstacles. Without a Plan B, failure will be that much easier. On the other hand, if you know exactly what your action plan will be, you won’t hesitate to keep going. There WILL be obstacles.

3. Write about your efforts, vocalize your goals, and gather your cheerleaders. If you keep your resolutions inside your head, you have only yourself to hold you accountable. When you put your plan in print, you are solidifying it and making it real. You are reminded of your efforts with every glance where memory may have failed you. Start a blog centered around your resolutions like her, write a few goals on a Post-it® attached to your computer screen, or enlist a friend to check in on you. The more you talk about it, the more concrete the idea will be in your mind.

4. Visualize yourself successfully completely your goals with every inch of your being. Taste the sweat, hear the crowd cheering and those compliments, touch the rope at the finish line, see yourself in your new fitted clothes and experience the entire thing down to the sensory details. If in your mind you’ve already succeeded, then you know for sure that success is not impossible. And once you immerse yourself in that feeling of accomplishment, nothing will stop you from getting there. It feels too good.

5. Do some research. It’s a whole lot easier to jump into something on Jan 1 when you know what will be expected of you. Print off that 5k training plan, read others’ success stories, track your spending for a month or two before implementing a budget, and become familiar with the terms and equipment at the gym so you can nail your resolutions head-on, without hesitation. Know exactly what you’re getting yourself into–or out of!

6. But don’t over-plan! You are not likely to be successful at losing weight if you immediately plan to track every morsel down to the almond, subscribe to three magazines, join every online weight loss community you come across, buy piles of complicated equipment, join a gym and forgo entire food groups unless you have some sort of rare iron-clad dedication. You’re setting yourself up for failure if you plan to form a million new habits at once. The most successful dieters use baby steps to achieve their goals. Implement one new measurable strategy per week such as drinking two extra glasses of water, walking 2,000 extra steps, putting away 25 extra dollars, sending out three extra resumes, or using a smaller dinner plate. Continue with what works, chuck what doesn’t. I can practically guarantee that by December, or maybe even July, you will reap the rewards of all those baby steps put together.

7. Don’t let your imperfections or shortcomings derail your entire plan. Who says you can’t change or rewrite your goals in February to better suit your lifestyle? Certainly not me!

What Have You Got to Lose?

Picture courtesy of Sunipix

A lot!

I was thinking about what might make someone motivated to lose weight when they’re sort of apathetic about their size…as in, their potentially-failing health, neutral body image, pleas from children, etc have not been enough of a push to get them to lose weight. These were some of my ideas:

1. Reproduction: Research shows that obesity is related to a host of reproductive problems. Planning to have a family–and a healthy one at that–can be a huge force toward leading a healthier lifestyle. I’ve also read that obese women are at higher risk for early and recurrent early miscarriages. It is highly advised that women get their weight under control to prevent this truly heartbreaking experience.

2. Insurance rates: I have seen instances where health insurance rates doubled as a result of health assessment reports. Talk about reason to lose weight!

3. Monetary incentives: Money, in general, is a good incentive for a lot of people to do anything. I see a lot of games popping up in area gyms and workplaces offering the “biggest loser” a pool of money or other great incentives. Perhaps stats on what they’d save money on if they’d lose weight such as grocery bills, clothing, airline seats (in some cases), gas, the obvious doctor bills and much more would assist in motivating.

4. Altruistic motives: How about encouragement to commit to running a race in honor of a friend with cancer or perhaps “dedicating” a few pounds to premature babies in the NICU (in the form of pledges per pound).

5: Success Stories: Motivational stories have always inspired me personally. When I see someone in my daily life begin to lose weight, I want to know everything about how they did it. It’s almost a stroke of jealousy that stirs up the desire in me. If someone larger than me (and whom I know personally or see in real life) can do it and look great, I want to!

6: I am also highly motivated to “show ’em” when people make rude comments or tease me about my weight or even another aspect of my life. When I came back to visit from my first semester in college, someone made a comment about my more-than-freshman-15 weight gain. That was a wake-up call. Someone else told me to revel in the weight I was at for my wedding because that was the lowest I’d ever be. Well, well, well. Today, after having a baby even, I weigh 15lbs less than I did the day I said my vows. I don’t appreciate being labeled, judged or pressed into a self-fulfilling prophesy of someone else’s. So there!

Taking Stock

Today is my birthday and there’s no better day to take stock of your life than on the very day it began.

Although I’m edging closer and closer to 30, and my husband has pointed out some wrinkles beneath my eyes (thanks dear), I know I have a whole lot more to offer this planet in oncoming years.

Since it’s my birthday and I can do whatever I want, I want to make sure I spend the whole year indulging in things that I truly do want. I don’t want the majority of my life to be spent focusing on things that don’t matter. I received a completely fitting birthday email from my favorite website, sparkpeople.com, that said “what matters most in life is often viewed as peripheral to the things we usually focus on” and that’s just not right. We all have to work and we all have responsibilities, but that does not mean we should direct all our energy towards meaningless dust.

Even when we’re at work, we can indulge in our favorite music on headphones, we can surround ourselves with fragrant flowers, and we can use our breaks to participate in our passions. Even when we’re commuting in heavy traffic, we can listen to our favorite audio books. Even when we’re waiting in a long line, we can take those moments to visualize our dream vacations or plot our Great American Novels.

This year will be the year I participate only in things that nourish my body and soul. Even formidable trips to the dentist have their place in whole-body wellbeing. And sweeping the kitchen provides a renewed, purified caccoon for my family and me. (After all, a clean room is much more relaxing to me). But also squeezing in lunches with friends, cultural activities and trips. Nourishing the body and soul not only involves doing things we’re passionate about, but also acknowledging the nourishing aspects of the events that at first seem obstructive to our wellbeing.

Personal Goal List

I think it’s important to have a list of printed goals rather than a mind full of fleeting I-wish-I-would-haves or someday-I-wills. There are always steps we can take to accomplish almost anything, no matter how far-fetched they may seem.

I think it’s important to return to a childlike state of mind sometimes as well. I wrote a few songs in grade school that a music teacher translated into music for a Christmas pageant at church. There were no critics, no research, no statistics of songwriting success standing in my way.

Anyhow, here is my current list of goals. And this is a work in progress. I’ll update as I think of new things.

Fitness goals:
1. Become a personal trainer.
2. Win a running race.
3. Run a race in another state.
4. Yoga: Be flexible enough to clasp my arms behind my back and master crow pose.
5. Write a fitness magazine article that gets printed in a major publication.
6. Be spotlighted in a fitness article as a success story.

Career goals:
1. Publish a novel.
2. Publish a book of poems.
3. Write magazine articles.
4. Be asked for an autograph from someone that I don’t know.

Home life:
1. Move into a beautiful home in the country with a large sun room, hardwood floors, lots of windows and an inherent clean feeling where bums aren’t likely to sleep on the porch or shatter windshields.

Trips
1. Weekend spa trip with yoga, nourishing food, and meditation.
2. Visit a remote location that has barely been touched by humans.
3. Snorkel to the coral reefs

Nice Excuse

My foray as a backup hand model got me to thinking…ok, that sounds much more glamorous than it really is…But anyway, knowing that I could be called upon to put my digits on display, I keep a nail file, cuticle pusher and bottle of lotion within reach at my desk. Usually this is one of the first areas of my body to get neglected when time is at a premium. But this little modeling gig gives me a great excuse to keep those extremeties in presentable shape.

This got me to thinking of good excuses to get anything done. Lose 12 lbs, pen a fashion article, increase the amount in your emergency stash or teach your baby the ABC’s. A great way to get any of this done is to think ahead to an event or deadline that you want to make. Plan a vacation and think about what you want to wear on that vacation. Then, keep that mental wardrobe in mind every time your butt plants itself on the couch. Reunions, vacations, momentous birthdays, and style trends you’re dying to try make wonderful excuses to get off the couch. Writing contests or publishing calendars make wonderful motivators to sit down and finally polish off that manuscript. Milestone calendars provide a great push to help get your child to learn his alphabet. A hosted party is enough to get anyone’s home in tip-top shape (or at least the debris out of sight).

These clean fingernails sure are inspiring!

Bravo Nike

Nike, of course, has it right. “Just do it.” Whoever came up with the slogan in that marketing office deserves some sort of all-star award for this all-encompassing idea. Every single effort we make in our lives boils down to this elemental statement.

Whenever I’m in the midst of a crisis, personal lapse, writer’s block, weight creep or any other stall on a personal end, I commit myself to researching the problem and developing a solution. I’m just very proactive like that. The trouble is, sometimes I know the answer, I just don’t act on it. I know exactly what will make my stress more manageable; I know exactly what to listen to when I need a creative jump-start; I know that tracking food always takes the weight off. Sometimes the ideas seem too simplistic to really work. Of course sitting out in nature dissipates stress, but sometimes I’m just too bummed to get out from under the covers when I’ve convinced myself nothing will work anyway. Now, I’m a pretty resourceful and self-motivated person in some areas, but sometimes it all boils down to just doing it.

I’ve always had an immense desire for change, a raging internal drive to take myself to the next level in my profession, hobbies and relationships. I take grueling effort to research, list, calculate and produce solutions for everyday problems. Perhaps a publishing prize would be within reach if I actually sat down to write. Perhaps my PR for running would get better if I stuck to a training plan and ate only Running World-worthy food.

It’s all a matter of just doing it.

Not All Opposites Attract

Here’s a little insight into the differences between someone who is healthy and someone who is not. Some of them might be overgeneralizations, but really, the habits between the two groups are significantly different. And in no way am I trying to be insulting, because I myself have been on both sides of the equation and know all too well the upsides and downsides of both. Here’s my experience with healthy vs. not-so-healthy.

1. Enthusiastic about each opportunity to walk instead of drive/Moan at the thought of having to cross a parking lot to reach a neighboring store.

2. Find little ways to incorporate activity into everything, even lunch/Barely leave their desk and would rather not even take the stairs.

3. Find time, no matter what the circumstances or how many kids they have, to work out several times each week/Offer an extensive list of excuses as to why exercise just isn’t feasible.

4. Take pride in trying out new fruits and vegetables and have a recipe collection for common favorites/Most fruits are ingested in juice form.

5. Knows what most fruits and vegetables look like/Not sure where to find an eggplant.

6. Pantries and fridges are full of healthy fare from the perimeter of the grocery store/Boxed meals and prepackaged goods usually make the cut.

7. Maintain a healthy lifestyle long-term/diet on and off; regularly sign up for different weight loss programs and quit after a short time.

8. Thoughts of the deep-frying process make you a bit nauseous/Thoughts of keeping down Brussels sprouts makes you turn up your nose.

9. Take charge, research and implement healthy living strategies/Wait for some miracle cure, supplement or equation to take all the guesswork out and require the least work possible.

10. Comfortable being uncomfortable for healthful gains/Huffing and puffing are avoided at all costs.

11. Have at least a basic idea of how to read nutrition labels and eyeball a serving size/Likely eat much more than one serving and think labels are way too scientific to even bother with.

12. Barely watch television and sometimes work out during commercials/Have at least 2 or more shows each weeknight that they catch on a regular basis.

13. Work at healthful habits one step and small goal at a time/Use an all-or-nothing approach and go all-out only to come crashing to a halt days later.

14. Small setbacks don’t completely derail the healthy lifestyle/A minor slip-up might completely sabotage willpower.

15. Enjoy small indulgences every once in awhile/Try to completely eliminate certain foods, label foods good and bad, and/or go overboard on portion size.

Fuel for the Fire

I told my husband this past weekend that the bad things that people do to me are “fuel for the fire,” so to speak. Each time I’m ignored, overlooked or have been snubbed by someone, I use that experience as ammunition for pursuing my passions. I’ll write extra pages in my novel, try to outshine myself at work, or create a goal that surpasses anything the villain has ever done. I’ve adopted sort of an “I’ll show them” attitude.

This is just how I am. I don’t think it’s good to only be motivated by someone else’s actions, but I do think that this is a very productive way to turn something unfortunate into something positive. Even if I don’t “show them,” I’m using that madness to spur myself in a positive direction.

Next time you’re faced with a snub, insult, admonition or bad review, visualize the success of something you’re working on. Place all that extra energy, emphasis and irritation you’re filled with into something productive. Instead of punching a hole in the wall, direct that energy into your passions. It also happens to be very cathartic.

I swear Honey, my book about gaming widows is going to be a best-seller!

Flabby Abs Beware

I just read a great tip that I thought I’d pass along. The article I read was sort of about keeping New Year’s resolutions, but it really deals with forming healthy habits any time of year.

They key is to become emotionally attached to your goal. Don’t just say “I’m going to lose 20 lbs.” Think about how you’ll feel when you’re you’re that much lighter. Think about what you’ll be able to do or do better when that load is lifted, such as run up the stairs, fit into a beautiful dress, touch your toes, prevent a disease, run a 5K, enjoy people’s company without giving any thought to how you look, etc.

When you do work out or eat healthfully, think about how great you feel afterwards. How your lungs expand to capacity and your muscles push out against your skin. You enjoy a greater awareness of your body’s capabilities. Think of how your skin pinkens and your blood pumps like brand new.

Take this tip to another level with active visualization. I’ve been reading a lot lately about how the world’s highest achievers, including Olympic athletes, have a visualization habit in common. Before competitions, they visualize participating and completing their sport with a flawless, victorious ending. Create a vision board, write a letter to yourself, or create an “achievement” journal. Every one of these things connects you emotionally to your body and goals. It becomes increasingly difficult to quit when you’ve become emotionally attached to your goals.