The first month of 2024 is officially over, and the New Year is in full swing! For many people, January has been a successful start to a new resolution. For others, it’s taken more time. So whatever stage you’re at, here’s 5 tips to get your resolution back on track!
Whatever stage your resolution is at, there’s always further opportunity to improve. Whether it’s going well, fallen off track or not even started, it’s never too late! One month of 2024 might already be over, but we still have 11 more to make significant progress.
Whilst I’ve made great progress in some areas like this blog, I haven’t even started running again like I wanted to. That’s why today I’ll be sharing my 5 top tips to get back on track with my resolution, to help others but to also help myself!
Hold yourself accountable
Take a good look at your resolution for the new year. What hasn’t happened? What should have happened for you to be able to start working on it? Reflection and accountability is always an important place to start.
The focus isn’t to make yourself feel guilty about not starting. The intention is to identify what has gone wrong so far, in order to avoid it from happening again in the future. When you take responsibility for your actions, and identify the factors stopping you from starting, you better position yourself going forward.
My personal accountability looks like this: I wanted to start running again, but I haven’t. Why? I haven’t found the time. Is that an excuse or a genuine justification? I think I’m just making excuses for myself. By the time February comes around I will have made some progress.
Set realistic goals and targets
Were your initial goals actually achievable? How are you measuring that progress? If you set yourself a goal that is wildly unattainable, then there’s no wonder you fell off track when trying to complete it.
Break your resolution down into smaller, achievable targets. Slow progress is still progress, and will help you to get back into the groove of things. I know first hand that if something didn’t happen straight away, I would often give up. Now I know that that isn’t the way things work, and you need to be realistic about how you’re going to achieve your resolution.
For me, that means I’m not going to get up and run 5km straight away. I also know I won’t be able to pick up where I left off on the Couch to 5km app. I will have to go back and try out the earlier runs, until I get back into a pace I can realistically keep up with. Only then will I be able to progress towards running 5km!
Talk to people
Get an outsider’s point of view, because a different perspective can be hugely beneficial. After all the excitement of the festive period, January can notoriously be a bit disheartening and demotivating. There are plenty of us who have felt that way.
Talk to someone and share your experience. You never know, they might have their own ideas to help you, or you can help each other. The sooner you start engaging, the sooner you will start to feel your motivation come back.
One reason that prompted me to write this blog was from talking to someone. That someone was my sister, who started the Couch to 5km app this year. Seeing her make progress, and chatting to her about it, has inspired me to get a move on and want to give it another go.
Don’t be afraid
Are you subconsciously holding yourself back? Are you scared of making the changes or improvements that are needed to progress with your resolution?
In my initial 2024 resolutions blog, I’m very clear about how I feel about the ‘new year, new me’ mantra. Your resolution doesn’t have to mean changing something completely, but it should be about improving. And it can be scary. But if you always stick to your comfort zone, you’ll never get anywhere!
So for me, I think I have been scared to start up running again, because I know I will have backtracked my progress. But that’s not a reason to give up, so don’t be afraid. This one links back to setting realistic goals, and know that it’s okay if it doesn’t go right the first time. Or even the second or third!
Make a plan of action
Visualise it and make it happen. We’ve gone through identifying what went wrong, setting more achievable goals, talking to others for motivation, getting over our fears, and so we’re at one last top tip.
Make a plan of action and get started! Be as detailed as possible so you can be accountable with your actions. Say exactly what you’re going to do, and when you want to do it. Write out the steps you need to take and the point you want to achieve them by.
So for the final time this blog, what does that mean for me? I’m going to schedule in my planner the days I’m going to go for a run, at a time that I know I will stick to. I will try the previous runs again until I’m back at a pace I’m comfortable with. February will be the month I get back into it!
How is your new year’s resolution going? Is it time to get it back on track?
