2021! How resolute are you?

Hoorah! We have finally turned our back on 2020 and can now welcome in the new year, 2021! Mind you, not sure just how this one's going to turn out and clearly it's going to be a slow start but surely better times must now lie ahead at some point?? Maybe by next December we 'going to party like it's 1999' again!

Accompanying the new year will likely be a few of those pesky 'resolutions' where we are all full of hope and enthusiasm about changing our lives for the better! I wonder how many of you have made or plan to make resolutions and just how many will come to fruition? To be honest I think we can all be excused for thinking that we have enough to deal with, the challenge of a pandemic surely featuring highly on the agenda!

However as a distraction to Covid and even as a way of sticking two fingers up at it, then why not make some changes and resolve to see them through? A word of warning though and a reminder of what happens every year - resolutions tend to fall into two camps:

a) nothing more than a pie in the sky wish probably formed under the influence of one too many on the 31st December at 2 minutes to midnight (at at his point we are fuelled with enthusiasm and nothing is going to stop us, we believe everything that comes out of our mouths!!), or

b) real belief that we will become fitter, we will lose weight, we will do Dry January and maybe even continue till Easter (really??!!), we will be nicer to people - only to realise that you can't keep up the pretence and will ultimately find any and every excuse to quietly retreat back to the comfort of your old ways.

Surveys have shown that only 8% of those who make a New year resolution will stick to it and actually achieve it. Not the greatest of odds!

So what do those 8% have that the rest of us don't, why is it so easy to fail despite starting with a burst of energised enthusiasm and motivation? A number of things will influence your outcome (the following applies to any goal at anytime, whether it's January or not!):

• People tend to be driven by emotion and hope rather than logic and the practicalities involved.

• People will make a decision based on what they think they should be doing or doing something that would make someone else happy. The only one who really has an investment in your resolutions for the new year is you!

• We often change the way we feel. We make decisions based on what we know and feel at the time but who knows what we will feel in the future which means our commitment will change too.

• We will try and make too many resolutions and achieve far more than we are realistically capable of, quantity over quality.

• We don't make a plan or have any idea how to manage our journey.

• Ultimately whatever it is that you have decided to try and do it may just not be important enough to you!

The way to success is to manage yours and everyone else's expectations of what you are trying to achieve. Life at the moment is pretty rubbish for a lot of people so don't add further stress and anxiety by setting yourself unrealistic goals. Lower expectations and don't take on too big a challenge. If you want to have a real good shot at achieving any resolution then keep it to one particular thing, something that is really important to you personally and that you know will be of real value to you. Take a look at my web page on Tips For Making Change which introduces you to the 5 Whys technique and will help you to drill down to the real reason why you are looking for change.

So if you're still thinking about making a New Year resolution, choose something specific to you. Break it down and plan for small successes, each one being a step on the road to glory!! If you decide to do Dry January for example (or maybe you started and already forgotten that you were supposed to be doing it and inadvertently managed some more holiday fizz!) ask yourself why you want to do it and stay focused on that main reason. The obvious benefits would include:

• weight loss (if you take an average of 200 calories per alcoholic drink then every time you don't have a drink then that's another 200 calories in the weight loss bank - unless of course you replace with something else!)

• improved sleep

• reduced blood pressure

• better hydration

• reduced anxiety (not something that we always think about but alcohol can trigger panic attacks and increased anxiety levels as a result of low blood sugar, dehydration, increased heart rate and increased stress levels)

• financial savings

It might be that any of the above is your 'why' or all of them. Find the one reason that really matters to you, the emotional connection to your 'why' and then you will have a better chance of success. Employ the right approach to help you too. For example:

• Do it with someone else

• Reward yourself, use the money saved to buy something that you didn't get for Christmas!

• Avoid temptation, the easiest way is just not to have alcohol in the house! Fortunately we ain't going anywhere so social temptation should be a bit easier to deal with at the moment!

• Monitor yourself. A whole month might seem a bit of a long haul so break it down - do a few days at a time, see how you feel and then add another day or two, build the journey bit by bit! The other option is to use January to cut back and then set yourself the challenge of a dry February? This way you're already reaping the health benefits, know what you're capable of and will put yourself in a good position to take it a step further.

• Don't beat yourself up if you have an off day! Accept it and then get back on it. Just try and limit it to the off day as opposed to the off days which can roll into off weeks!!!

All of the above applies to just about anything you want to do. Personally, I will be focusing on nutrition for the next few weeks. If I'm honest towards the end of last year and certainly over the Christmas period, I was not really paying attention to myself, particularly where diet was concerned. As a result I am now feeling rather rubbish and indeed sluggish!! So whilst I would not necessarily call it a New Year's resolution, I would call it a commitment. I will focus on what I know works for me and enables me to feel better both physically and mentally, I love how being on top of my game makes me feel (this is my 'why'). I won't be going for perfection (perfection is not required or sustainable - life without any chocolate at all? No thanks!) , but progress, slowly improving things over the weeks so that I can get back to where I want to be in a managed way and so that I am more comfortable with my lifestyle again. I will not be employing total restrictive practices but certainly some limitations and short term goals of daily/weekly challenges.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck with whatever you would like to achieve in 2021. If health and fitness is your calling then go for it and please do not hesitate to get in touch I can be of any help.