Ever asked yourself, “How do I stick to a habit?” Lots of people start planning new habits and new resolutions around the New Year, but…
Mark your calendars! January 17th is New Year’s Resolution QUITTER’S DAY!
That’s right… the second Friday of the month is comically known as “Quitter’s Day.”
Okay, technically January 17th is the 3rd Friday but of course, everybody “starts on a Monday,” and this year the first Monday lands on January, 6th.
That means January 10th you confront your first Friday and full weekend enduring the pressures and annoyances of behaving differently.
After all, the hustle of the week keeps us all very well distracted. We have meetings and obligations that make a lot of decisions for us throughout the day.
The weekends are the wild wild west for many.
Here’s another fun little stat… only 20% of those who set NY resolutions create a formal way of holding themselves accountable to their goals.
As an experienced coach (and a bodybuilder out to earn her pro card) Imma tell you if you don’t have a mechanism of accountability, you might as well not even start til you do.
And I def want you to start so I’m gonna offer you 3 that keep me in line.
#1 – PUT SKIN IN THE GAME TO STICK TO A HABIT
Put your damn money where your mouth is or you won’t stick to a habit.
Why do you think wedding transformations are so successful? Sure, it’s an important event but let’s be honest… the gown is bought, the venue secured, flowers are ordered…
You’ve didn’t just talk about making your vision a reality. You had to INVEST in it months prior.
To bodybuild at a high level…
- My competition bikini is $800
- My national entry fees are $900/show
- My make up, tan, hair are $500/ show
And we haven’t even gotten into plane tickets and 3-4 days at a hotel.
While both of these examples are financially on the more extreme side, I simply want to drive the point that INVESTING in your goal is a statement in your resolve and self belief.
If you’re not ready to bet on yourself, are you truly committed to the discomforts ahead?
#2 – THE RIGHT ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY TO HELP YOU KEEP A RESOLUTION
REALITY CHECK… your bestie who loves to drink a bottle of wine with you every Friday night may not be the right person to help you keep your resolution and get you through “Quitter’s Day.”
In my coaching experience, the strongest accountability buddy:
- Is ALREADY LIVING THE LIFESTYLE you desire to adopt or at least comes fairly close to it.
- Isn’t emotionally attached to habits you’re trying to drop.
- Can call you out on your bullshit to coach you up and not shame ya down.
Now, we don’t always have these people already built into our lives.
While I have lots of fitness and health minded friends, I had to seek out other “crazy bodybuilders” to surround myself with others that could provide me support when I wanted to quit.
I can tell you that at sweatlocal and Diet Rebellion, people often cite their “gym wife” or “Diet Rebellion Crew” as a pivotal piece of what gets them through low moments.
#3 – MEASURE CONSISTENCY IN BEHAVIORS TO KEEP MY RESOLUTIONS
Here’s a new way to look at setting goals and sticking to a habit: Your goal is not losing 20 lbs and see 149 on the scale.
That’s actually the outcome.
Your goal is actually to behave today the way 149 you will always behave.
What does she do?
How often does she work out?
What does she do when her alarm goes off and she wants to sleep in?
How many times a week does she eat a salad?
How often does she have dessert?
If she’s not drinking a bottle every Friday, does she stop at two glasses?
I can guarantee you that the scale will go down slower than you will like. Our bodies do not work like calculators.
If you allow the scale to be the only measure of keeping a new year resolution, you’ll likely will become a statistic on “Quitter’s Day.”
Pick 3 “big bang for your buck” behaviors to track daily. In Diet Rebellion we call these anchors. These anchors will help you keep your resolution and stick to a habit by forcing you to behave as though you already have the outcome.
- I eat a salad a day.
- I have no more than 4 alcoholic servings per week.
- I have no less than 30 grams of protein at breakfast.
For the next 2 weeks, track how often you’re able to do this.
If you get “a bad grade” your habits are likely too big a leap to tackle and you’ll need to bite size them more.
If you get a perfect grade you’re too scared to fail and you’re not pushing hard enough.
Some failure – lets go with the 10-25% rule – is necessary to keep things motivating but also interesting.
2 HABIT TRACKING RESOURCES I LOVE
- App – Streaks – I’ve used this app before and truly enjoyed it particularly because it’s not about being perfect but about building longer and longer streaks. You can track habits to quit and habits to build as well.
2. James Clear is the king of habit change. His book and his app are really solid investments in ensuring success.
QUOTE TO MOTIVATE YOU
When you’re not doing shit, nobody’s saying shit either. When people talk about “the discomfort zone” it ain’t always about hunger or fatigue.
If you need some encouragement and tough love on sticking to your habits – click here to subscribe to the INSIGHTS newsletter from sweatlocal. You’ll get an email every week with motivation and resources – and absolutely no B.S.
