It’s the middle of March, Spring is just around the corner. Warmer weather is on its way and the world around us is beginning to bloom and come back to life. Things are looking up!
Unfortunately, this is also the time of year when many a new year’s resolution begins to fall by the wayside. Building a new wellness/fitness habit starts with a sometimes massive behavioral change, which also brings up the question: Am I really ready to make a change at this point of my life? Everything we do, feel, and think relates to our well-being. In my opinion, wellness is considered a way of living, an integration of the body, mind, and soul. It’s not just about your looks, but your health as well: overindulging in unhealthy habits can endanger your life in more ways than one, and avoiding this situation is a must.
All the new habits and goals we were so excited about starting in January slowly became harder to sustain and our resolve to read more, go to bed earlier, exercise more often, etc. is easily broken. There’s no shame in admitting, I am also a victim of that! This is completely understandable. With so much going on, it’s easy to regress back into old habits — sometimes without even realizing it.
But old habits aren’t getting us where we want to go in business or in our newly developed fitness lifestyle. That’s why we made the resolutions in the first place, right? Something needed to change so that we could move forward.
Here’s something that is important to remember: We all have setbacks. How you deal with those setbacks is a primary factor in your ability to keep your resolutions. If your goal is to lose weight or to stick to a healthy diet but you find yourself polishing off your favorite ice cream, be kind to yourself. Don’t quit now!
I can’t promise you will magically wake up one day and have all the motivation in the world to accomplish all of your goals at once. However, you can wake up and make the conscious choice to keep going or to at least get started. One step at a time.
Here are my favorite ways to reassess my goals and make sure I'm on track for success:
Self Evaluation
Take a realistic look at yourself in regard to your resolutions. How well have you done so far? Be honest with yourself. Even if it’s a small step in the direction of your goals, it’s still progress.
Don’t beat yourself up. What’s important is what you do from now on. Will you recommit to your goals or will you let another year go by without seeing the progress you’d like? Make the decision here and now.
Perhaps your goals are too big. If so, make them smaller. We love to hear about people’s lofty ambitions; it’s inspiring! But set the bar too high and you’ll become discouraged. A goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished if it deals with specific facts and events. Breakdown your objectives into small manageable pieces. If you are still feeling overwhelmed, break them down again until you feel as though you have tasks that you are able to accomplish.
Use a Pen and Paper
There’s something powerful about writing your goals down on paper. In fact, studies show that you’re 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down on a regular basis. When you write your goals down, you gain clarity as to what it is you’re actually trying to achieve. Bullet journals, vision boards, to-do lists. Staying motivated when it comes to making self-care a priority can feel overwhelming if you’re trying to do it all at once. No matter how you do it, make sure to write your intentions down or express them in a tangible way. Displaying these somewhere easily visible also helps to keep your goals top of mind.
Quality > Quantity
It’s important to focus more on behaviors than outcomes. Or, put another way, focus on the journey, not the result. Reaching a goal isn’t linear. It can have ups and downs, but as long as you keep moving, even baby steps in the right direction are progress.
Make Failing Impossible
The harder you make it to fail, the easier keeping your resolutions will be. Partner Up: This advice is cliche for a reason – it works. You are likely to stay motivated and moving in the right direction if you have a friend or a community of like-minded individuals to support you. It is always easier and more fun to stick with something when you have a buddy to “suffer” through the process with you. They also help keep you accountable!
Switch Now!
The minute you take your foot off of the gas pedal is when you start to lose focus on what was once so hard to accomplish. You can avoid this fate very simply by focusing on the process and not the result. A clean diet and fitness routine can only bring benefits to our health and overall well-being. If you have things such as “eating healthy” or “lose weight” in your New Year’s resolution list this year, I challenge you to stay consistent and stay focused throughout the whole year by implementing some of the tips I gave you. The most important part is to get started and not give up. It might seem harder at first but I guarantee it is worth it and you will adapt in the long run!
Paul Millsap, 4x NBA All-Star and Hydra-Guard Partner has always made his nutrition and health a priority, which reflects his elite performance and extremely successful career in the NBA. Paul’s ability to maintain playing at the highest level has been nothing short of amazing. It's a professional career that every athlete strives for.
The key for longevity in any athlete’s career is to take care of their bodies first and that's something that Paul has obviously done very well. Hydra-Guard Sports Drink caught Paul’s attention in early 2019, when he officially partnered with them in efforts to bring the brands healthy benefits more readily available to more households across the country.
"Being a professional athlete naturally encourages me and my family to live a healthy lifestyle. Hydra-Guard Sports Drink raises the bar to unprecedented heights with its beverage innovation. It’s packed with electrolytes, and being an all natural sports drink with low sugars is a game changer, this product is changing the industry," says Paul.