**Update: Here are the winners of our 6 DietBet entries: Me: Christy Cloer (Facebook), @alishabowling (Instagram), and April Sherlock (Twitter). Chris: Chelsi Byrnes (Facebook), @joshmagill (Instagram), and Carrie Sagel Burns (Twitter). We replied to your posts with the info on how to claim your free entry, so go check them right now! 😉 You have 24 hours to reply. Congratulations!
Every New Year?s Eve, Chris and I gather up our friends and family for a little resolutions party. It is without a doubt one of my favorite days of the entire year. Together, we hang out, set off fireworks, and laugh about the crazy adventures over the last year. Right before the New Year hits, we each write out individual resolutions on paper lanterns and release them into the sky. There is something so powerful about declaring your resolutions out loud to those closest to you. These kinds of promises, as opposed to silent promises, give us an added layer of accountability that we all need…including me!!
2015 has absolutely flown by, and I really can’t believe it’s that time of year again when at least 45% of us make those New Year?s Resolutions to lose weight, or save money, or get out of debt, or go back to school, or cross off that bucket list item…and on and on. Why is it, then, that on December 31st?364 short days later?only 8% of resolution makers are successful? Why do we have a hard time achieving any goal, no matter when we begin? Why is it so hard to do what we know we need to do? What quenched that burning fire we felt on day 1 of this ?fresh start,? and how can we reignite it and be successful goal achievers? It might take some trial and error to find your fire, but go for it?you?re so worth it!
Here are my six solutions for reigniting, and then keeping your goal-achieving fire burning brightly?with some motivational quotes thrown in for some extra kindling: 😉
1. Have a heart-to-heart conversation with yourself and ask?and answer?the hard questions: Why do I want to achieve this goal? How will my life be better by achieving it? If this is a repeat goal, why did I fall (because we never fail!) the last time? What will I do differently this time?
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~Unknown
The best goal has a deeper motivation?that burning fire you feel within: to get a better job, to be able to play with your kids without feeling like you?re going to die, to retire at a certain age, etc. And while a goal to fit into that pair of jeans might get you started, it?s probably not a long-term motivator. Find that ?burning fire? purpose and you?re good to go!
Purpose is the most powerful motivator in the world. ~Gandhi
2.? Prioritize:? If your calendar and to-do list don?t match up with your goal, you?ve got a problem.
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage…to say ?no? to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ?YES? burning inside. ~ Stephen Covey
Yes, you need to take care of life and the people in your life, but if your to-do list is full of too many low-priority ?other? things, you?ve lost your bigger, burning YES! Carefully prioritize your life and make sure those YESs are front and center.
3.? Replace fear with courage: The fear of failure is a huge fear we all have to deal with when committing to a goal, and the hardest part of reaching that goal is often convincing ourselves we can change even though we?re afraid! One of the easiest ways to find the courage amongst your fears is to make and keep one small Promise to yourself. Success ignites even more courage!
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. ~Disney?s “The Princess Diaries”
4.? Celebrate every single success, no matter how small: Set up your own reward system?it works for kids, why wouldn?t it work for you?! Make your rewards something tangible, motivating, and goal-related, and remember that each tiny success makes that fire burn even hotter, so celebrate!
People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. ~Tony Robbins
5.? Be realistic:
- Achieving this goal will definitely make your life better, but don?t make the mistake of thinking it will make life ?perfect.? If you do, you?re setting yourself up for a big fall.
- Be prepared to fall, and when you do, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and confess, reassess, and recommit to your goal. Remember: Falling is not failing!
- Get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Feeling comfortable is definitely a fire extinguisher!
Life is not meant to be lived in your comfort zone. ~Laurel Day
6.? Some other ways to keep that fire burning:
- Work on one goal at a time and make sure it?s a SMART Goal.
- If you don?t know where to start, do some research, ask others, and become a budding expert. For a weight loss goal, check out our Carb Cycling program?it works!
- Just begin. Focus on one small thing you can do today to move closer to your goal. Get on that treadmill for just 5 minutes, deposit $5 in a savings account, or look over your resume. One small thing.
- Prepare for and take care of small bumps in the road before they become huge roadblocks to your success.
Guys, I?ve got an amazing way for you to get a great start on that 2016 transformation goal, and it starts January 4th. Chris and I are hosting another?DietBet game??Get Lean in 2016 with Heidi & Chris Powell??and we?d love to have you on our Get Lean Team! It?s simple: Bet $30, lose 4% of your body weight in 30 days, and split the pot (which is growing every day, BTW!). What an awesome way to invest in yourself in more ways than one. 😉 Who?s in? Get all the info?here! And to give you a jump start on your 2016 transformation goals, I’m giving away three entries to our DietBet game! Here’s how to enter:
- Leave a comment below and tell me about one of your New Year’s Resolutions. And to make it really real, tell me one promise you’re going to make to yourself to help you achieve this goal!
- Make sure you’re following me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and then like this post on any of my channels. You can even share it if you feel so inclined. 😉
- You have until midnight, Sunday, January 3rd, to enter, and one winner will be randomly chosen from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and announced here on Monday, January 4th.
And remember, finding your fire and keeping it burning brightly is all up to you?no one can do it for you. You got this! 🙂
Xoxo,
Heidi
1,283 Responses
I resolve to take better care of myself. I’m 43 but I feel like I’m 86… and I am going to nip this in the bud. I want to feel like I’m 23! 🙂 I am going to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day, move for at least 30 minutes everyday, and meditate daily (to get better in touch with my body). Thanks!
Heidi and Chris, let me say that I need this more than anything in my life. I need to learn to forgive, and by forgiving I need to learn to forgive my past, present and future. I am now almost 270 pounds. I am type two diabetic and I have high blood pressure. I have been abused, and hurt all of my life. My life was filled with not only physical abuse, but sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. I have been hiding since I was young. I have put my self in a dark place by over eating and feeling left out and alone. I raised my children on my own and I have really big trust issues, and I don’t trust myself to do the right thing because every time I try to lose weight I start to do well but I sabotage myself and fall back into my old habits, and make excuses because stresses trigger my weight gain and I use food as my total comfort instead of speaking out and saying how I feel I take it all in and eat it all and hide it inside. I really want to scream at times and let it all out but I am afraid, afraid to be hurt again, afraid that I cannot forgive because I take it back, I blame myself for all of the past abuse because I was blamed and was told it was my fault. Please Heidi and Chris I really need help, so that I can become free from not only my weight problem, but free from the pain and hurt of my past. I want to have friends and people that I can trust and I want to be able to truly forgive everyone from my past. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
I make goals for the new year, they are easier to get back on track if you have a bad day. I would love tips from you on food and exercise. I think it would be great to be in the dietbet program but since retired have to decide where money is used
I really just need to be able to walk up the stairs to put my babies to sleep with less knee pain. Getting rid of some weight will help.
My resolution is to stop saying “I will start tomorrow” Tomorrow turns in to next week, then next month. I am 48 and want to enter the second half of my life as healthy as possible. I want to section hike the AT and the lighter I am the easier it will be.
For the past 2 years I’ve struggled and gone through so many obstacles since I’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I’ve tried so many things to boost everything about myself and only being 22 I’m still figuring myself out and I definitely don’t want this struggle to define me anymore. Gaining over 60 lb since it all began I’m determined not to set a resolution but to just better something about myself each day and have a goal to be at the gym each and every day. The weight gain is not what has knocked me off my feet over and over but the spirit and outlook on life…it stole my smile that once upon a time never left my face. With doctors just shutting me out I’m determined to define my life back to what it once was. Motivation and having a good vibes rooting in my corner for once. I want to end this struggle not just for me but my family who miss me as well as my contagious smile as they say and for every other person who has this disease they are not alone in this fight to reman or to find themselves once more. I have hope and so should everyone else,just do not give up..here’s to 2016! I’m not saying new year, new me because I just want A me to have and get back?
I am going to get rid of all sodas and sugary drinks in the house so this will force me to drink more water. Thanks for all your postitive words.
I’m going to focus on gaining muscle and strengthing my muscles. I will accomplish this by lifting heavier and target muscles for a curvier booty. Plus I will keep doing body anylist to see I’m making progress.
My resolution is to get back on track with my healthy lifestyle. I lost my job in August after 25 years and have been in a rut ever since. I need to really work on myself. I used to go to the gym 5 days a week and now I’m lucky I go once a week. I need to stop with the soda and drink more water. I just ordered your new book and hope it helps me. Thanks for all the motivation. You guys are great.
I am going to learn to leave my comfort zone and try new things. I am also going to read all 16 books I bought in 2015, finally!!