**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 want to end the vicious cycle of exercise, eat healthy, and binge. I binge when I am sad, stressed or depressed. And it has not been effective. They say exercising is 4 percent of your day. For me it’s more than that. And it’s been the only thing that makes me happy. I love to exercise. I love the way I feel when I eat healthy. But then I feel empty. And I confuse that with hunger. I am 100 pounds overweight, and I know what to do. So I intend to Eat with the intention and fill my hunger with yoga and other passions. I’ve overcome cancer and that is a second chance at life. I wouldn’t want to I waste that chance to obesity. And miss out on memories to be made with my family. I usually put my family before myself because they need me. My husband works 100 hours a week and my kids are young. So everyone needs me for everything. I need to be there for them and me.
I plan to drop down to my ideal weight within the next 18 months. I have about 200 more pounds to loose. My husband has stage 4 kidney failure and I want the chance to give him a kidney if we’re a match. My first promise to myself is that I’ll workout for 30 minutes at least 5 times per week.
That is the sweetest thing ever, good luck!
I want to end the vicious cycle of exercise, eat healthy, and binge. I binge when I am sad, stressed or depressed. And it has not been effective. They say exercising is 4 percent of your day. For me it’s more than that. And it’s been the only thing that makes me happy. I love to exercise. I love the way I feel when I eat healthy. But then I feel empty. And I confuse that with hunger. I am 100 pounds overweight, and I know what to do. So in the new year I resolve to eat with intention and use my love of yoga to stave off binges. I intend to make peace with myself and be kinder and more patient with my young children, so that I can be a good role model for them. I intend to focus on my passions and return to life. I am a mom and wife first, but I’ve been unable to overcome these comfort binges because I am alone in this quest. My husband works 100 hours a week so everything is on me. And so I often seek solace in food. I have a great virtual support network for my quest, but I know Im the only person that can change things. I have overcome cancer and have been given a second chance at life. I wouldn’t want my fat to be my demise. I want this year to be be the best year yet. Rumor has it 2016 is going to be great for everyone. Thanks for inspiring us Heidi.
My goal is to lose 8 pounds in the next month. I will have strength, be able to move with ease and enjoy being in my body. I promise to eat breakfast every morning and follow thru with my work out routine 10 minutes a day. I will finish reading my copy of Choose more, Lose More about the TURBO cycle and incorporate it into my life I have inspiring notes to keep me focused and I want this!
I’ve been up and down on the scale my entire life. For me now, it’s more about a healthy lifestyle and being a role model for my boys than just a number on the scale. My second son is a year old now, so I need to get my butt in gear! I want to be able to run again and feel good, and for them to be proud of me. I promise to not give up even when I really want to. It’s going to be really hard, but I know I can 🙂
One of my new years resolutions is to dress better 5 days out of the week. Look sharper at work, add accessories and jewelry, and smile more. I’m also starting your 21 extreme transformation plan on 1/11/16!! So excited to lose packed on pounds from my 20s and get back to my competitive swimming shape weighthe days!! Love you and your hubs and your super adorbs family. Thank you!!
I want to lose 30 lb by June for our trip to London. I’m serious. This is it. I have extreme transformation and I’m working through my goals and promises right now.
My husband and I are committing to losing weight, not for this year, for life. We have lost and gained dramatically for 2 years and need to find stability in our lifestyles and diet. We both love sports and coach at the high school level. We need to be good examples not only through what we say, but physically for our athletes. To reach our goals this year we will eat out less. We have gotten into terrible habits that have caused us to stack on weight and lose all self esteem and confidence. Together we can commit, challenge, and encourage each other to reach our goals.
My new year resolution is to get healthy.. I’m not extremely overweight but I am miles from being fit 🙁 I’m 23yrs old and I weight 80kg.. I don’t look super fat but I don’t look happy either.. 2 days ago I invited my family to go hiking to celebrate the end of 2015.. 15minutes in I was sweating, I could not breathe, speak and people over 60yrs were passing by me looking at me sadly.. it was horrible feeling.. I had to stop every 5 minutes to catch my breath but with help of others I finished it strong – 5 hours long.. I tried to loose weight so many times but I never wanted it to be healthy, it was always about looking good.. This time NOTHING will stop me, I already started, I signed up for Prague half marathon in 3 months and I will finish strong.. I will get healthy and fit and een though it’s not a priority anymore, I WILL look good 🙂 I follow you on FB as Katka Brisudova, Twitter as @BrisudovaK and Instagram as @katkabrisudova
I am going to spend the next year working on mind, body and soul to keep me around long enough to annoy my 4 children! As of today, for my body, I cut sweets intake by half and I’m sticking to water. For my mind I’m doing a reading challenge this year for more me time. For my soul I’m setting a side 10 minutes in the morning for meditation/reflection.
I got this.
I will succeed.