**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
This year I promise myself and my babies more raw greens and less oxed. We are always on the move so I am going to meal prep for week! Also, I really need to stop clothes shopping ha ha
For 2015, I am making a lifestyle change, not going on a diet. Making me and my health a priority. Quitting smoking, stop drinking diet soda and drink more water and get healthy.
I am committing to drinking more water and moving more every day!!! Would love to use Diet Bet as a motivator!
In 2015 I have chosen to take care of my self. I actually decided that in December so I starting then by starting to journal my food. I have also signed up for my first 5k and so I will be starting the training for it. As a large woman it will not be easy.
for 2015 I am going to make me a priority. I am going to eat healthy, workout for myself, not for anyone else.
In order to reach my goal of losing 100 pounds, I have eliminated drinking soda. That has been the one thing keeping me at my unhealthy weight. I am doing this for my 2 year old daughter, but also for me. I deserve to have a healthy life full of fun, not constant aches and illness. I love you guys and am looking forward to the next season of “Extreme Weight Loss!”
I lost 90 pounds about 23 years ago and gradually gained about 40 pounds back through the years. I want to get back into a healthy eating and excercise program. Your encouraging blogs make me feel I can do it!
In 2015 I am going after accountability. I am telling people about my goal to be the fittest I have ever been in my life, versus keeping it to myself. I want to do something public so I will be held accountable for what I said is important to me. Thanks for offering the opportunity to do this without a monetary cost.
I will not set myself up for failure. Since I do all the grocery shopping I can and will control the food that’s brought into our home. I am committing to going to the gym at least three days a week so that I can complete a half marathon this year.
I see this Dietbet program as a wonderful tool for i inspiration. My newyeears resolution is to compete(by compete i mean enter and finish without being last) Half ironman in june. I have been training since October and already up to my distance needed to finish the swim and run. THe bike portion is dawnting.
How ever, if i win this entry into dietbet, i would like to give it to my beat friend, patty. She is overpounds overweight and i really feel like she has the ability to loose it. We go for walks 2-3 times a week, they arw slow but she is out there. I am hoping that if she is involved in the program she would be motivatedto eat better.
Btw, thanks for being an inspiration to e and my family. I am a mom of 4 (5, counting my hubby) and watching you guys juggle the fitness and family hurdles in life help us too. Pluss whating your adorable children on my Facebook feed is great! Thankyou for all you go and hhopefully i can be an inspiration just like you guys someday.