As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s, tens of millions of Americans pledged to themselves that this would be the year they finally got into better shape. Surveys show that this is overwhelmingly the most popular New Year’s resolution out there… and also, unfortunately, the one that usually gets abandoned the quickest.
Chances are, you know at least half a dozen people who planned on getting fit in 2010, but haven’t made very much progress so far. You might even be one of them yourself. If you are, that’s okay – it’s a common problem, and you’re fighting some very powerful psychology. It isn’t that you don’t want to get into shape, it’s that getting into shape takes a lot of hard work over a lot of time. It’s very easy for your brain to trick you into settling for something else that feels better in the moment. In other words, being fit feels good later, but ice cream and pizza do the trick right now.
This is all just a way of saying that resolutions are hard because habits can be nasty things. But the good news is that there’s still plenty of time to reach your fitness goals for this year. You just need to get moving today, before they become another thing you never got to.
Here are a few pieces of advice to help you gain some momentum:
Use habits to your advantage. We all know that bad habits are hard to break, but what most people forget is that good ones are, too. Make it your goal to do a light workout every day for a month. Even if you spend just a few minutes on the treadmill, you’ll find that it will quickly become part of your daily routine – and much easier to stick with going forward.
Make it convenient. It’s hard to muster the enthusiasm to go to the gym when it means driving half an hour, finding your workout clothes, locating some of your favorite music, and so on. Make things easy by planning ahead; find a place and time that are convenient to exercise, and then gather everything you’ll need beforehand. Having your workout set to go removes a lot of the last-minute excuses we find to just stay home.
Remember Pavlov. A lot of us remember the story about Pavlov and his dogs – the ones who salivated automatically at the sound of a bell – from high school. What we tend to forget is the underlying lesson: rewards and punishments are powerful things. For every day that you make your workout, give yourself a treat; if you miss your time at the gym, fine yourself a couple of dollars, or put off watching your favorite television show. It might sound simple, but it can help you set new habits quickly.
In less time than you think, we’re all going to be looking forward to 2011. The question is: will you still be dreaming about getting into shape, or thinking about what you can accomplish once you are?
