It’s that time of year again: New Year, new routine. And the messaging is everywhere - do this, eat that, and crush your resolutions so you can be a better you in 2023!
And while it is indeed about you and your goals, it’s not about the gimmicks and it doesn’t have to be about sticking to that scary R word. It’s about making small, and meaningful changes in your life as you see fit. So, without further ado, here are the our 5 tips for creating good habits (and sticking to them!)
1. Make one change at a time. - Coach Mike
Just like learning to walk - it’s one step at a time. When it comes to making meaningful changes to your routine, it’s all about tackling one change at a time. Change is naturally one of those things we don’t enjoy, so why try to upheave parts of your life? It might take longer to cross things off your list, whether you’re trying to start something or quit something, but these habit changes will be long lasting if we give them the undivided attention they deserve!
2. Set small, achievable goals, and revisit them every day. - Coach Haley
As with making one change at a time, start off by making them small! Starting with small goals sets you on a good trajectory and gives you the confidence to take on larger habit changes down the road. Additionally, revisiting these little goals every day will help hold you accountable. Trying to drink more water? Leave a sticky note on your washroom mirror reminding yourself to drink a glass before you brush your teeth. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to have another couple classes at lunch. At the end of the day, ask yourself if you hit your personal target. If you did - awesome! If you fell a little short - tomorrow’s another day to crush it!
3. Whatever changes you make, make sure they’re gradual. - Coach Robby
Tying into our ‘small goals first’ point, this is how you make your larger goals just as crushable as your small ones. And we do this with everything - lift small weights before big weights, run a 3k before a 10k. This is also true for the reverse: if you’re trying to break a habit, going ‘cold turkey’ isn’t always the answer. Cutting down on a bad habit that you expect may be compromising your progress will most often be more effective than kicking it completely from the jump.
4. Look at your other habits and ask yourself if they support your desired habits. - Coach Dan
In science, we always look at what external circumstances may have impacted our results. When it comes to creating (and maintaining) healthy habits, it can be difficult to drive success when some other less-than-healthy habits may be holding you back. And don’t just think about the typical ‘smoking’ or ‘passive snacking’ that are often framed as the bad habits in question. This could also include things like negative self-talk or self-doubt. Leave those suckers in 2022, because 2023 you has no time for that!
5. Consistency always trumps perfection. - Coach Leo
No one is perfect, and trying to be takes up a lot of time and energy that could be better spent lifting weights, running tails, or petting dogs. Being consistent is the name of the game when it comes to maintaining healthy habits and crushing your goals. If you’re a visual person, set out your goals and get yourself a calendar; mark off every day that you manage to tackle your bite sized goal - a blue checkmark for your water, a green checkmark for your protein. Look at how many checkmarks you after one week, two weeks, a month. Tracking your consistency will help you let go of that odd day you did hit a goal - one day is never going to break your progress, but showing up for yourself as much as possible will make it!
Need a hand getting started? Our Coaches do more than just write your workout and nutrition programs! One-on-one personal training and nutrition sessions are designed to help achieve your goals, and our coaching team is here to cheer you on! Ask us how to get started!
