It’s a brand new year and you have some fitness goals. While I want you to be successful on every resolution you’ve set, I’m not going to encourage you to see 2014 as a blank slate. Because the reality is that today isn’t much different than yesterday. Nor is it much different than the 365 days prior to yesterday. At least the calendar isn’t going to make today different.
If 2014 is going to be the year you accomplish your goals, it’s because you make a change within yourself.
The Guiding Principle of Successful Goals
I’ve been working with clients for over 20 years and helping them achieve their fitness goals. In that time, I’ve set goals for myself. Many of these I accomplished. Others I failed to accomplish. I’ve learned that successful people apply a basic idea to the foundation of their goals. This guiding principle reduces tension in their lives. It’s called balance. Without it, you can’t be truly successful.
Just as time can’t be reduced to 365 square blocks, you can’t be reduced to your fitness goals. Each goal, whether it’s related to work, health or something else, impacts other areas of your life. Whether that impact is positive or negative determines if the goal will bring balance or tension to your life.
Balance and Self-Sabotage
But here’s the kicker. Even if you don’t care about balance, your subconscious does. And it will protect you from yourself with a sordid mix of distraction, fear and self-sabotage.
One way to determine if your fitness goals are balanced is to ask yourself how they will impact your life. You may self-sabotage if you sense that your family is resentful of the time you spend exercising. Or you may skip a morning exercise session if your boss pressures you to answer emails before work. When your goals bring more tension than balance, you’ll struggle to achieve them.
Using Balance to Set New Year’s Resolutions
To bring balance to your life, try setting goals in multiple areas that complement each other. Focus on your emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual needs.
Making a goal of enhancing family time reduces the tension you feel about spending time exercising. Creating goals that will bring tangible success to the company through your efforts makes you less susceptible to your boss’s unreasonable expectations. Committing to a healthy, active lifestyle increases your creative energy for other areas of your life.
An Invitation to Fulfillment
Too often, New Year’s resolutions focus on external changes. While the transition from 2013 to 2014 brings a new tax year and clearance sales, it isn’t the panacea that will make you healthy and fit.
Rather, the tradition we call New Year’s resolutions is an invitation. It’s an opportunity to pause and reflect. Just as this New Year is one of many, your fitness goals are just one component of a fully realized life.
By seeking balance when you set your New Year’s resolutions, goals become less like a tug of war and more like a harmonious circle. Instead of paying a price in terms of time and energy, you’re making an investment in a full life.
Call Mind Body Motion Today
The staff at Mind Body Motion can help you create and achieve fitness goals that harmonize with your life. We’ll listen to your concerns, hear your hopes for the future, and create a custom approach to help you achieve optimal wellness.
Your health impacts every area of your life. Make it a positive impact. Call Mind Body Motion today.
“Keep on moving”
Luis Ponce Sr.
(408) 778-5577