Of all the staples of New Years (overpriced club nights, turning whatever year it is into a pair of glasses somehow, desperately scrounging for someone to kiss at midnight) one tradition stands out more than the rest; your new year’s resolution.
In 2019 fitness tracking app Strava did research and found out that the day MOST people quit their New Year’s Resolution is the second Friday of January, and “Quitter’s Day” was born.
Every year, 60% of resolutions are to “be healthier” (lose weight, exercise more, eat better etc.) The problem is; no matter how healthy you may be, there is always room to “be healthier”. Perfection does not exist when it comes to health.
We at Vitasole think that it’s this vagueness which is the major contributor to why approximately 80% of resolutions fail!
You haven’t failed yet, you’re on a “hiatus”. Let’s reframe that resolution! Follow these steps and “New Year, New Me” will still be going strong well into this year (to mid February at least).
Step 1) Be Specific.
“Getting healthier” is all well and good, but how?
Do you want to lose weight?
Do you want to be fitter?
Do you want to recover from a niggling injury?
The first step in any resolution should be to define EXACTLY what you want to achieve out of it, the more specific the better. “Walk more” is good – “do a 20k charity walk in April” is far better.
If you lock this in early it makes it real. It gives you light at the end of the tunnel to begin with. New Year’s motivation is powerful (just look how many people are at the gym in early January), but it’s fleeting (look how many people are at the gym in early February).
Eventually internal motivation will fade. But if you set yourself some defined goal posts you'll be motivated to strive for them.
2) Break it down
Now that you have that SPECIFIC thing you want to achieve, let's break it down into steps of how you’re going to get there. This makes the whole thing much less daunting.
Let’s say your resolution is “climb a mountain by the end of the year”, it’s important to figure out how. Your training plan for something like this is super important. You’re going to need those milestones to hit week by week.
If you have no idea where to start, it’s time to ask our welcome to the future friend - ChatGPT (or whatever your preferred AI is). Get specific with your prompt. Tell it what mountain you want to climb, when you want to do it, what level you’re at now and it’ll spit out a great place to start
(eg. I want to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in 6 months, I am currently very unfit and carry a niggling knee injury, please create a training and nutrition plan to help me accomplish this).
We live in a truly amazing technological time, utilise it.
(Break it down this way whenever possible too ↓↓↓)
3) Be Realistic
Want to be the next Taylor Swift? Unless you’re Sabrina Carpenter then you might want to re-think that one (if somehow you ARE Sabrina Carpenter, we’re huge fans and we love you).
It’s easy to get swept up in the feeling of New Years. As much as you think that “next year will be your year,” it might not be… the best thing about setting a goal is hitting that goal!
Setting this big lofty goal may seem like a good idea, until it’s too far away and becomes daunting.
So if you want to be the next Taylor, let's break it down. Make your resolution "record a demo by June", "perform twice a month", "win an ARIA" (big goal but it's not quite a Grammy is it? We'll let that one slide).
Set the small goal, tick that box, rinse and repeat for your bigger one.
You’ll be in your “Era’s Tour” Era in no time!
4) Do it with someone!
Letting down yourself is easy, you’ll get over it. Letting down someone else is awful.
One of the very best ways to stick to your New Year’s Resolution is to do it with someone. Humans are a pack animal, and no time is that more evident than when you have to make that awkward call to tell your gym buddy you’ll be skipping today’s session.
Doing your resolution with someone doesn’t just make it harder to cancel. It gives you the opportunity to compete with someone and celebrate your wins with someone. Team work makes the dream work, get to it.
If you’re stumped on where to find your team mate, we wrote a blog with some strategies on how to do just that here.
The best possible way to make your resolutions stick is by incremental lifestyle changes. In this world there’s no such thing as a quick fix. Ease your way into it and you’ll hit your goals in no time!
5) Dress for Success, from the ground up (start with your shoes)
It’s amazing the wonders looking good and feeling good can do to your psyche. When you look like you can take on the world, you FEEL like you can take on the world and feeling good while you do it is the icing on the cake.
We’re definitely biassed, but the best way to start is by getting a sturdy, supportive (but also GORGEOUS) pair of shoes. These days you no longer have to suffer for fashion, especially when it comes to shoes. You can get the health benefits of an orthopedic pair of shoes, and get those psyche benefits of knowing they look great too.
For your movement goals, Vitasole has you covered. But why stop there? Let’s take looking good and feeling good into day-to-day as well. Check out the range at our friends The Comfort Co. With a pair for any occasion; they’ll have you smashing it, no matter what you’re doing.
6) Make Movement a Part of Your Day
We’re not saying you have to climb mountains (if that’s your resolution, incidental exercise will absolutely add a helpful sprinkle onto your training), but weaving small, active habits into your daily life can keep you on track.
Take the stairs, park a little further away, ditch Uber Eats and walk to pick up your lunch.
Changing your mindset in this tiny, tiny way can make a huge difference in everything else you’re doing.
When you move more, you FEEL like you can move more. Let’s hit our goals, but change our whole lifestyle while we’re doing it!
7) Celebrate the Little Wins
At the start we told you to “Break it Down” with your goals. A huge reason why you should do this is so that you can celebrate when you hit those milestones!
Want to smash that 10k Charity walk and you’ve just done 5k in training? Good for you! Get yourself that new pair of shoes on your wishlist!
Want to lose 5kg and you’ve officially dropped the first? Awesome! Sounds like it’s time for a cheat day (don’t go too crazy though)
Half way through Dry January? Reward yourself with a beer! (We're kidding)
If you’ve followed our other advice and are doing your resolution with a teammate (as long as it's not Dry January), time for a belter night out! You’ve earned it!
8) Prepare your mind
Even if your resolution is entirely physical, your mindset will play a huge part. It’s all well and good saying “this year is going to be my year” after 10 champagnes on New Year's Eve. But following through is a whole different beast.
If “Quitter’s Day” is now your reality, chances are it’s because you didn’t get your mind right first. Don’t worry, there’s a blog for that. We wrote one about the specifics on how to mentally prepare for a fitness journey. If you’ve fallen off, give it a read to help with your reset.
This Year, Step Into Success
Sticking to resolutions is tough, which is why Quitter’s Day is so freakin’ early in the year!
That’s okay! If it’s something you really want to do, don’t let a bump in the road stop you. “New Year’s Resolutions” are great - incremental changes towards your goals and a better lifestyle are better (no matter what time of year it might be)
When you’re supported (by friends, family, internal motivation and a GREAT pair of shoes), it’s totally doable. Let’s lace up our Vitasole’s and get back on track!
We believe in you!