In December I posted about my early new years resolution planning (read here) and told you all about Jantastic – Have you joined yet?
I know it’s only the 2nd January but start as we mean to go on right?
With only a few days left before the start of the Jantastic challenge I thought you might like some tips for keeping your New Years Motivation burning. I did promise these were coming too!
Here are a few tricks to keep your fitness mojo firing from Martin Yelling, PhD. He is a performance expert and works alongside his wife Liz, who is a 2 time Olympic marathon runner. He is also founder of New Year health and fitness challenge www.jantastic.me.
- Make your goals a stretch but not out of reach. Stop and slow down when it comes to lofty New Year resolutions. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big yet at the same time don’t over commit and under deliver. Setting your sights too high can mean you’ll end up disappointed when things don’t go to plan. Disappointment leads to disenchantment with your goal and before you know it you’ve missed another run, skipped another stretch and binned a swim.
- Share your goals. When you keep your goals to yourself if you go ‘goal AWOL’ it’s only you who notices. This isn’t great for keeping you on track with your aspirations and only the strongest self-motivated people succeed. When you share your goals and make them public you suddenly become more accountable for it and take greater ownership. The increased awareness of your targets by others around you really can help you stay on track. Start a blog, post notes on the fridge and share the goal love.
- No i in team! Sticking with something solo challenges even the most dedicated. Joining a community or team of other people with similar aspirations helps you stay motivated and on track. Sign up for an exercise class, join a group, persuade your friends and get a fitness buddy. It’s easier to get off the sofa when you’ve committed to an exercise rendezvous. It doesn’t have to be face to face either. Set up your own team in the New Year online fitness challenge Jantastic and invite your friends to join you. Before you know it you’ll all be on the train to motivation central!
- Protect your time.We’re all busy people and protecting time for our health, fitness and exercise is really important. Find slots in your day (early morning, lunchtime?) when you can prioritise time for your workout and commit to it. Miss that opportunity window and it’s really hard to carve out a new one.
- Be on top of your motivation. It sounds clichéd but to be motivated you’ve got to know what floats your boat in terms of giving you that vital energy and enthusiasm boost when you need it most, when the weather is at its worst during the spring, when you’re feeling on a particularly low ebb, when your goal just seems so far off it’s almost unreachable. Try getting a personal reason to exercise and reminding yourself of this. The memory of a loved one? Raising money for charitable cause close to your heart? To drop a dress size? Whatever your reason/s draw on them to drive you onwards.
I hope these help, they sure got me thinking about my drive this January and how to be on top of my motivation.
Good luck and most of all I hope you have fun! Fitness is good in so many ways, also giving you energy and relieving stress. You could even get to know new people taking part in a group class you might not have before!
Chloe xx
Lashes Of Lifestyle 