Training Matters: Fulfilling your resolutions takes one step at a time
By Brittney Nyrose on January 11, 2020.
Happy 2020! A new year, a new decade! What an exciting time of the year. For many of us, we see a new year as a fresh start. We begin setting new year’s resolutions, new goals and make plans on how we are going to make 2020 our best year yet. It is as if once that clock strikes midnight, we get excited for a new chance at achieving our goals and making wonderful plans for the year ahead. We feel ready to take on new challenges, push ourselves to new limits, and do things we haven’t dared to do in the past. It seems as though within the first few weeks of the new year, we get an extra burst of energy. We see the new year with new hope and increased motivation. Sadly, our excitement, renewed energy and motivation don’t seem to last as long as we all hope it will. I see it all the time where people get really amped up at the start of a new year, set a goal to get healthy, and join the gym only to quit the following month as they lose their excitement and motivation to continue. How many of you have actually been able to hold true to your new year’s resolution for the full year? The trick is to stay motivated. But how can this be achieved? It’s not like suddenly we decide we no longer want to achieve that goal we set at the beginning of the year. We still want those things. We just seem to lose our energy and motivation to do what is necessary to reach it. As such, here are a few tips to help keep you motivated when things get tougher than expected. The first step is to break things down into smaller, more manageable steps. Many people set big goals. We refer to these as long-term goals in mental skills training. Typically when someone asks what you want to achieve in the new year it is something big; something that takes a while to accomplish; maybe even something that takes a lot of hard work! It can be extremely overwhelming to look at where you are now, and where you want to be, and how far away that goal truly is. Or perhaps you have this goal in mind but have no idea how to even get started. The very first step I advise all my clients to take is to break their long-term goals into smaller, mini goals or steps that when added together will get you to the big goal. For example, if your plan for this year is to become healthier, you must first decide more specifically what that means and what it will look like. Then, in order to break it down into more manageable pieces, you must figure out what you have to do weekly, daily, even hourly that will get you one step closer to reaching this. Another way to stay motivated is to keep the big picture in mind and visualize the results. Sometimes when the going gets tough we get stuck in all the things we have to do. We become overwhelmed and bogged down with the details. In this situation, it may be helpful to change our point of view and pan out to a wider focus on the bigger picture. Then visualize the results. Create a mental picture of what it looks like when you reach your goal. If you are an athlete training for a championship, imagine yourself on the top of that podium, gold medal around your neck and trophy in your hand. Imagine what you feel like in that moment, how happy you are, and how proud you are of your hard work. This can help reset your mind and remind of you of why you started in the first place. An alternative approach to staying motivated is to tap into other people’s energy. It is important to surround yourself with good people who are supportive of you. This could be your family, a good friend, a teammate, or even a coach. You can lean on these people for encouragement to get you through the tough days. You can find motivation in others around you too. For instance, maybe it is your idol, an individual who has achieved the goal you are hoping to. You can draw upon their success and see yourself being just like them. Or maybe it is someone you saw at the gym this morning who was full of energy and enthusiasm. Draw upon their upbeat vibes and take away some positivity. Hopefully some of these strategies will be helpful in keeping you motivated toward making your new year the best one yet! Good luck and stay positive. Brittney Nyrose is a mental performance coach and the new mental skills coach for the Alberta Sport Development Centre – Southeast. She can be contacted at bnyrose.mpc@gmail.com. 10-9
