**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
In 2015, I am committed to being more active. I feel like my body is begging me to be more active and I am up for the challenge. I am not approaching this new year with the goal of being on a diet, but with a commitment to make healthier eating choices most times, practice portion control when I do indulge, and to be more active. I deserve to present my best self to this world. Watch out 2015, I am showing up and I came to WIN.
My main goal for 2015 is to focus on eating intuitively. I’ve spent so much time obsessing over calories and fat and such that I never learned how to eat based on how I was actually feeling in my body. Now I want to hone in on my bodily sensations and learn to recognize actual hunger, satiety, fullness, and thirst. I think this will really help with my emotional eating or eating out of boredom just because I have “calories left” in the day.
Here’s to a great 2015 for all of us! 🙂
@Heidi
these are great tips to help me stick to my goals for 2015. My big goal is to feel comfortable in my own skin, not to be skinny. I would like to wear a bikini in summer for the first time. I plan to prioritize better and celebrate the little things. I want to focus on meal planning and win the battle in the kitchen for me and my 3 daughters. As a mom you are a great inspiration! The DietBet would be a great jump start towards reaching my goals.
10,000 steps
accountability
willpower
Working every day into 2015 and beyond.
Know in my heart that every day is a new day.
Goal: try to crossfit 3-4times a week and eat clean.
#eatclean #getlean2015
I’m doing 2 things this year to get going on wright loss. I’ve started drinking 64 ounces of water/day (small steps!) and using my Fitbit to get in 10,000 steps a day. I really want to look better and more importantly feel better this year. The big 50 is quickly approaching (next year), and I want to greet it with a smile and a big “I don’t care ’bout no stinkin’ number!” But first I’ve got to get that number on the scale down 😉
I am DETERMINED to hit my goal this year. We are officially done with babies (after 3) and I’m ready to be “me” again! 30 pound lighter here I come! 😀
I have never been able to accomplish my new years resolutions before. I would always make them and basically disregard them almost immediately. But this year I am motivated. For the past four months I have been exercising and eating healthier (not perfectly, but I’ve made the effort consistantly and gotten back on the horse several times after bouts of bad eating). My goals for 2015 are to reach my goal weight (I’m about 25 pounds away), run a marathon (I’m up to 15 miles now), go sky diving, stay on the dean’s list for my last two semesters of college, and (little embarrassed about this one) write and perform stand up comedy. Really excited to see what happens over the year!
Last year I gave up sodas and lost nearly 40 lbs. I workout several times a week and have been trying to eat healthier. This year, I will continue to develop healthy habits and plan on running my first marathon.
My goals for 2015 are to start working out more religiously. I hope between eating better & working out I will be able to reach my goal.