We are a few weeks into the new year. How are those resolutions going? Right about now, we may feel our dedication and motivation starting to flag, or maybe we start thinking we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. But don’t throw your hands up and walk away just yet. Here are a few useful suggestions to help you achieve your goals for 2018!

• State your goals in clear words. One problem with new year’s resolutions is they tend toward the vague. Phrases like Get Healthy, Eat Right, Lose Weight may all seem like good ideas, but there is no good way to measure your progress, and no clear destination you can visualize when you lose your drive. Instead, try writing out a clear list of exactly what you want to achieve. For example, instead of “Improve Flexibility,” maybe come up with a specific pose you would like to work toward, such as needle or splits on the floor.
  • Watch out for misleading goals such as weight loss. Personally, as my fitness has improved, I have lost fat but gained muscle. So I am ten pounds heavier than where my original “goal weight” was back in 2012, but I have so much strength and I’m super happy with my appearance. It’s not always about the numbers! Instead, maybe set a fitness goal, a specific activity such as being able to climb the silks all the way to the ceiling without using your legs.
• Set a deadline. It may be December of this year, or it may be four months from now or two years from now. Each goal you set may have different time-lines. Timelines will also depend on whether you are building a habit or skill, or breaking one. Either way, try to be reasonable and realistic about what can be done in your given amount of time.
• Split your goal up into smaller bites. Now that you have your end in sight, split up the pieces into bite-sized chunks. For example, don’t try to overhaul your entire diet at once. That is a recipe for failure! Instead, maybe for month one you will try to eliminate excess processed sugar. So, week one may just be focused on quitting soda. If that goes well, maybe week two can be about not stealing your kids’ sugar-packed GoGurt, but instead having some Greek yogurt with a dollop of honey like a grown-up… or is that just me?
  • For fitness goals, work slowly! So going back to our goal of getting a needle in flex class, maybe concentrate on your shoulders for the first few weeks, then maybe work more into your back, and so on, rotating between areas to prevent injury and overuse.
• Measure your progress, but not too often! It’s so important to really document your progress to keep from getting disappointed or frustrated. However, if you document too much, it can also be disheartening because you won’t see much progress on a day to day basis. Also, progress toward any goal is very rarely a straight upward path. It is mostly a very jagged, jumping line graph of two steps forward, one step back. So take a before picture, and then try only to document at the end of each month, keeping in mind that there will be more and less successful days. Try to photograph on a day you feel you are at your best each month. This way, your photos will show a steady progression and you will really start to see your results in the long term!
• Be ready to go easy on yourself. So maybe even after a whole year, your needle is still not perfectly straight, or maybe you’re not rocking that six-pack like you thought you would be, but when you step back and set those before and after photos beside each other, you will see a world of difference and all the reward of sticking to your goal for a long time.

In my experience, one of the most helpful things in achieving my goals every year has been the support of amazing friends. If you are lucky enough to take classes at Lotus, you know what I’m talking about. Our community is a huge part of what keeps us motivated and feeling great about our progress every day. See you in the air!