Happy New Year!. . . In September?

September always gets me thinking about New Years Resolutions. On January 1 each year many people start in on their New Years goals. That’s usually a good thing assuming the goals are realistic and they have a bona fide plan to win. Of course, fitness goals are one of my favorites for people to go after. I wouldn’t be much of a trainer if they weren’t.

But there’s a trend that I see at the beginning of a new year that gets me thinking. Each year when I hear fitness hopefuls tell me their goals and when they want them accomplished by I think to myself,

“It’s too bad you didn’t start in September.”

Setting goals that are ambitious is fine. However, unrealistic time frames move ambitious to HIGHLY UNLIKELY. Think about it for a second. People want to “look good for beach weather.” People want to “look good in their wedding dress in mid summer.” People want to “drop their spare tire” or “tone and firm those hips and thighs for their reunion/anniversary/cruise.”

The problem is I rarely meet someone who has an event like one of these who doesn’t put off starting the process until the calender year matches.

So what’s wrong with that?

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with that. That’s not enough time! Here’s why:

1. Most people who give themselves 6 to 9 months to reach their goals should give themselves 9 to twelves months. I don’t have a Hahvahd University Study to confirm this but I’ll bet there isn’t a trainer out there that would disagree with me when I say that the vast majority of the people who approach them with their goals have come to them at least 3 months too late.

2. There is a huge difference between “under pressure” and “do or die.” Some people do function better under pressure. Under pressure generally produce more success. Do or die, however, 99 times out of a hundred, produces die. Isn’t the fitness goal and event coming up pressure enough? You want to do it under the gun too? That doesn’t sound wise to me.

3. Most people are so time strapped that it will take ONLY ONE unexpected interruption to COMPLETELY DERAIL THE WHOLE PROCESS. It’s almost as if people set themselves up to fail by building in the high likelihood that something will derail them from their goals since unexpected interruptions are inevitable.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

So why not start now? Seriously. You know that special event is coming. You know summer’s coming. Just because the summer of 2011 is barely over doesn’t mean the summer of 2012 isn’t coming. In fact, let me be so bold as to say IT WILL BE HERE IN LESS THAN 9 MONTHS.

THE REASON YOU DIDN’T REACH YOUR FITNESS GOALS THIS PAST SUMMER IS BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T START AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR. Think of all of the advantages to starting in on your fitness goals RIGHT NOW.

1. You’ll be in practice with healthy habits BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS. We all know fitness goals started after the holidays allows us to act unfit during the holidays. But why not think of it this way: You aren’t going to not have fun and enjoy the holidays. You’re just going to do so with fitness guidelines to put rails on the enjoyment.

2. Why not reach your goal on or ahead of schedule? The idea in running a race is to beat your opponent. In your fitness goal race you have only one opponent: To be in shape by the time of your event. In a race do you think it’s a better idea to win by a little or a lot? That’s a rhetorical question expecting the answer, “A lot.”

3. You know that the health benefits associated with your goal is not just the “look good” factor. That being the case what in the Sam Hill are you waiting for? You don’t need an event as the reason to:
- lower your cholesterol
- improve your cardiovascular ability
- increase your strength
- feel better
- sleep better
- reduce stress
- live a more disciplined life which is A HAPPIER LIFE.

Now What?

So here’s what I want you to do. Find a fitness pro or someone you know who has a clue about reaching goals. Sit down with them and find out how much time you’ll need to get to your goal. When they tell you that starting now is NOT TOO EARLY and you end up reaching your goal on or ahead of time you can thank me then.

Happy New Year. . .

Comment below, please. Agree or disagree?

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