9 Sustainable New Year Resolutions For Athletes
Tips to Help You Maintain Your Motivation to Improve Performance
It’s that time of the year again. The excitement of the new year has faded. So too has your commitment to the New Year’s resolutions you set yourself. All those promises you made to yourself just a few short weeks ago have been broken.
Why is it that we set out with such a strong resolve, only to fall at the first hurdle? How can we do better with our health and fitness resolutions?
Why We Break New Year Resolutions
There are many reasons why we break resolutions. Understanding these will help to create sustainable resolutions ─ and you can start these today, even though you’re struggling right now.
So, what are the most common reasons we fail so spectacularly with our resolutions? Here are a few:
We have a tendency to believe that the New Year is going to be different from all the other years. We think of resolutions as a new start, a chance for improvement, and for making changes in our lives. And then we get back to our old habits and forget about all of this.
We get back to work after the holidays, get back into our routine, and stop dreaming of our new goals.
We forget to do what we promised we would one day, and we feel the defeat ─ and this damages our motivation to pick up the following day.
We often break New Year’s resolutions because we set ourselves up for failure. We expect too much from ourselves and don’t give ourselves the time to adjust.
When we set unrealistic goals, our brain tells us that it’s going to be really difficult and this makes us less motivated to achieve them.
Sometimes, we’re simply too optimistic about what we can achieve in a short space of time, and end up being disappointed when we don’t reach our goals.
As humans, we also have a tendency to overestimate our willpower and underestimate how much our environment influences us.
Nine New Year’s Resolutions to Unpack Today
So New Year has passed. So what? It’s no reason not to set yourself new resolutions that you can maintain. The secret is to make sustainable resolutions. Small and achievable promises that will combine to create a big difference. Here are our suggestions:
#1: Set a good example
People often make resolutions when they are in a good mood. They are motivated to do something about their lives, so they set goals for themselves. When our mood changes, so does our resolve. This is why it is crucial to set a good example. Set your alarm. Do what you said you would, at the same time every day. Soon it becomes habitual ─ both to yourself and to others.
#2: Accept the ups and downs
Ups and downs are inevitable in sports. We shouldn’t fear them. It’s not about how many times you fall, it’s how you get back up. Accepting the ups and downs in life will help us to be more resilient.
#3: Be patient
We are all guilty of not being patient enough when it comes to our resolutions. But what if we actually put in some time and effort into our resolutions?
Patience is a virtue. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither will your New Year’s resolutions be fulfilled if you expect instant gratification.
#4: Work hard and be prepared
Sustainable New Year’s resolutions are not just about crossing things off the list. It is about building a better version of ourselves. This takes effort. We must work hard and be prepared ─ turn up every day, put the effort in, stretch ourselves. To help with this, prepare a plan of exercise that can be referred to daily, to help keep on track.
#5: Focus on the process
We have our plan, now it’s time to focus on the process. We need a plan for our resolutions, and we need a process that will help us to achieve them.
The process is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. It’s what separates those who achieve their goals from those who don’t.
#6: Set realistic goals for yourself
Setting realistic goals is crucial to our success. But what is a realistic goal? Here’s a simple example:
You’re currently running 5k in around 28 minutes. You want to reduce this to 22 minutes. Is this realistic? Perhaps, but every time you run, you are still 5 or 6 minutes away from your target. That’s demoralizing, isn’t it?
Now, compare to the runner who sets graduated goals. First target? 27 minutes 45 seconds. Target achieved. The new target is a little lower, and the success of reaching the first target motivates the athlete to continue with their faith in the process.
Do you want to lose 50lb? That’s a huge target. Instead, set a target of losing 1lb each week. Now that’s a sustainable resolution.
#7: ‘Bring it’ every time you compete
The fear of failure is a natural human emotion, but it can be damaging and paralyzing. We often feel that we need to be perfect in order to succeed, but this approach will only lead to more mistakes and disappointments. We should ‘bring it’ every time we compete, not just when we are in a good mood or when we know that we will win. We should stop worrying about what other people think and only focus on our own goals.
#8: Finish competition season without regrets
This year, instead of making a big list of resolutions, we can focus on just one thing: finishing the competition season without regrets. We need to be able to look back at the end of this season and feel proud of what we achieved, not disappointed in how it ended. Remember, too, that our only regret should be that we didn’t do our best ─ that we didn’t put in the effort that was required.
#9: Keep learning
Every day is a school day! We have multiple opportunities to learn more about ourselves and the process of improvement each day. We need to find ways to keep learning with every success, mistake, mishap, up and down ─ it is this learning that will help us improve our plan, our process, and our results.
Two key pieces of advice to take into everyday
We’re going to sign off on this article with two pieces of advice to keep at the forefront of your mind every day:
#1: The trend is your friend
The first is that you shouldn’t expect to crush it every day. There will be days when it all goes wrong, and you don’t achieve what you hoped to. That’s life. Tomorrow is another chance, a new opportunity to be better and do better. What is important is the trendline that you are setting.
There are going to be ups and downs, but so long as the trend is moving in the right direction, you’re doing great. Remember, the trend is your friend.
#2: Work to the Rule of 72
Second, huge results can be made through the smallest of improvements. Can you do 1% better tomorrow than you did today? Instead of 100 reps, could you stretch to 101? One extra is nothing, right? But if you could improve by just 1% each day, in around 72 days you’ll have created a 100% improvement.
So, work to the Rule of 72.
Where do you start?
Setting those realistic goals is the place to begin. Make a start today by booking an appointment for a comprehensive 90-minute body evaluation.
