1) Ask yourself, "What do I care about, have convictions towards, or have daydreamed about for my life?"
The key here is to identify desires, hopes, goals, or beliefs that you hold that you want to move towards. Remember, if you say something matters to you but you do nothing, the reward (positive or negative) that you get from inactivity is greater than the perceived reward you'll receive through activity. Ex: If you have a fear of change, your desire for comfort may outweigh the perceived benefit of moving towards your goal. This may play out in the case of an employee or agent who wants to work for an office with good morale and camaraderie but they're scared of leaving the familiar.
2) What's the next step that you could comfortably move towards and be able to implement naturally into your life?
This step is about getting your feet in the water. Don't make it harder than it is. If your goal is to get back to your college weight, resolve to take 10 minute walks every evening. The resolution would be the 10 minute daily walk (the behavior change), not the end result (back to your college weight).
3) Build in a reward for following through with your resolution.
For many, this may be simply feeling good about doing something that matters to you. Think of it as good "self-care". You matter and have worth, and you're worth making goals and working hard for. Allow yourself to feel good about what you accomplish!
4) Ditch the guilt!!!
If you steer from your resolution, forget about the "yesterdays" and focus on the present. If you set a goal for regular daily walks, but you miss a whole week, the week doesn't mean it's undo-able. Simply recommit to your goal and feel good about being able to chart through new territory (staying true to what you'd like to implement into your life).
5) Remember, resolutions are about adding value to your life.
If you do the things that are inherent to your goal, you will eventually get there. For example, to get to a certain weight, you'd implement regular exercise with eating more whole fruits, vegetables, and made from scratch foods. Find out what you have to do to reach your goal, and make those particulars your resolutions.Don't make the end goal your resolution, or you may be taking on more than you can chew. Plus, each step along the way is a resolution in itself that should be celebrated!
So, what would you do for yourself if you got serious about yourself? It's never to late to "seize the day"! If you can tell I've been thinking about exercise, that's because I'm training to run the Austin Half Marathon the second week of February. For those of you who can't imagine yourself running any length of race (trust me, I didn't either, and neither did my husband, who ran his first marathon last summer) check out ActiveRunners, a group for runners and those wanting to get into the running (or just plain healthy) lifestyle.
Have a Happy 2008!
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