New Year; New You!
Ok, what does that really mean anyway? Isn’t January 1st just another day? And for many of us it was a Sunday that we lounged around with family enjoying some downtime after the whirlwind of the holidays. So don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t wake up at 6am ready to conquer the world and your goals…
Now don’t get me wrong, I am ALL for using something to help motivate you to make a healthy change. So if it’s a New Year’s resolution that will do it, then let’s make it stick this time around!
2016 was a year of several firsts and personal transformation for me. Most of these transformations were mental. So this past week I spent time reflecting on the last year and have compiled a few tips for you to help make 2017 exactly what you need it to be! After all, the beauty of this life is that you can wake up on any given day and head in a new direction, do something different, create a new habit, even re-write your story. So here goes nothing…
1. Be Kind
No explanation needed. You can only control your actions, so put some good energy out into the world. We could all benefit from a little more kindness.
2. Create a Pie Chart of Your Day
Ok, this could also be just filling out an hour by hour schedule of your day. Identify where you’re spending your time. Who are you giving your time to? What task are you doing the majority of the day? Then compare this to your goals. These could be business goals, relationship goals or health goals. Is how you’re spending your time conducive to achieving these goals?
You can also then take out the chunk of time spent towards achieving your health goals. Examine this a little further. Break up the piece of the pie that goes towards health. What things are you doing to help you achieve “good health” in your eyes? Is it enough to actually reach your goals? Is it the right tasks for your goals? Now if the answer is no to any of these questions… what can you do to tweak these things and be better? Create a day where you can say you deserve all of the goals you’re working towards. This is powerful imagery.
3. Meal Prep
Focus on macros (protein, carbs and fat). Killing it at the gym each day is awesome, but often not enough. The ultimate way to take care of your body is to be thoughtful about what you put in it. This will aid in muscle recovery, improved performance, decreased body fat %, weight loss and more energy! Not sure what this means. Contact us at Edge Body and we can help.
4. Jump
Take the leap. Make the choice. Seriously, whatever you are wanting to do – go for it! Whether it’s business, love or even success, nothing wonderful ever happened without first taking a risk.
5. Lift All the Weights!
And if you don’t have a place to do this, come and check out Edge Body. Strength training will not only help transform the way your body looks, but the increased lean muscle will also transform how you feel and how you move through daily activities. Gaining strength does something wonderful to the mind by showing you that you are now capable of things you once could not do. This is a powerful motivator for all health goals!
6. Be Selective of the 5
They say you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. So select this group wisely. Are they bringing you up or tearing you down? Now this doesn’t mean you should run out and cut people out of your life. But examine your goals. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? Now start finding people who could help you get there. People who help you elevate your game. It helps being around some like-minded people who are all working towards the same goal. Wouldn’t it be hard to eat healthy when you’re surrounded by fried foods…much the same as surrounding ourselves with people who aren’t aren’t healthy to our goals.
7. Pick Something to Train For
Whether it’s running your first 5k or picking a date to climb Mt. Rainier. It’s helpful to constantly have some physical feats that keep us going. Even extremely fit people can benefit from new goals to shoot for. Weight loss may be your main goal, but don’t underestimate setting some physical goals in the short term. Conquering these things can then lead to your overall weight loss goal. Selecting something to train for requires consistent effort and work. This is also the recipe for sustained weight loss. So whether you have never been in a gym before or have been an avid exerciser for your whole life, pick a couple things in 2017 to train for to help keep you motivated. Custom programming can also help with the plan of attack to conquer these goals.
8. Read (or listen) to the Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
We sometimes put all our focus into our physical health or appearance. The emotional side of the equation is just as important to our overall health. So get to reading… great perspective on things!
9. Extreme Ownership
A) It’s a great book on task and business perspective but can also translate into any aspect of our lives. B) Say this phrase next time you don’t get what you wanted. What could you do next time to ensure your employees really understood their tasks? What could you do next time to really deserve the goal you wanted? What actions could you take so that same person doesn’t hurt you again? Ultimately, you are the person that is keeping you from the things you’ve wanted in this life. Realize that, and it’s a game changer.
Looking to change & make healthy habits? Edge Body offers a free consulation for both Boot Camp and Personal Training!
10. Get a Massage. Meditate. Do Yoga.
Whatever you can do to fit in something more restorative in your life, do it. This not only helps with workout recovery, but it also helps with stress management. If there’s one area we could all focus on more, it would probably be stress management.
11. Breathe and Think
Don’t let yourself be so reactive to things, people, outside circumstances. Instead let things that happen to you sink in for a second. Take time before responding. It will be ok, I promise. You may be happier with a well thought out response versus saying something in the moment out of pure emotion. And don’t underestimate the power of a simple “no” response.
12. Be the Lead in Your Own Movie
Seriously, when was the last time you wrote your own script or casted the people in the movie that is your life? Take a minute to view things like this and you may be able to make some decisions that will greatly impact your happiness.
13. Trust the Process
Nothing worth it ever happened over night. So whatever you’re in pursuit of, try and enjoy the journey along the way. Who can you inspire along the way?
14. Learn to surf on Macao Beach
Ok anyone who actually surfs, you may want to hit up some actual waves. But this place is beautiful and untouched by tourism. So find that place for you. Find your postcard place. Something that you can just look at and be in total awe of the world around you. I think of this beach often when I need to check-out.
15. Keep-Start-Stop
Create a list of the things you want to keep doing, start doing and stop doing. This can be in all aspects of your life. Then in 3 months revisit this list and see how you have been doing to hold yourself accountable. Need help with accountability? Share this list with a friend. We all have little aspects of our life that we would like to tweak. This list can be a powerful tool for change.
16. Get to Know Someone
Like really know them. Not their favorite food or what their job is. What makes someone tick? What are they passionate about? Just listen and be a friend.
17. Don’t just Stretch; Work on Mobility
Mobility is often thought of as a “if I have time” activity. It is just as important as the exercises performed in a workout. Make time to work on specific movements, flexibility and range of motion so your joints are operating at 100%. This will also ensure that your body can perform exercises correctly and minimize risk of injury in the future. If you currently come to class at Edge Body – we are adding in even more mobility exercises into each workout in 2017!
I could go on and on, but I think this is a good start. AND didn’t even mean to but that’s 17 tips for 2017. (17 is also my favorite number go figure haha).
Your life is happening now so what are you waiting for?
