2020 is nearly here! If you’re being 100% honest, how did 2019 go?
Has it been a good year where you’ve achieved all of your goals? Or has it a year you’d prefer to forget? Maybe it’s been a mixed bag?
Either way, it’s essential to sit down and reflect on the good, the bad, and everything in between. Be honest with yourself, pat yourself on the back for what you’ve achieved, and learn from mistakes, or what you could have perhaps done differently.
In this post we’re going to look at how to make 2020 count in regards to achieving your health and fitness goals – we’ll give you some excellent tips, that if applied are guaranteed to make 2020 a very special and productive year for you.
1. What Do You Value The Most?
The first thing to do is look at what’s most important to you. Is it building muscle and looking BIG, or is it looking super lean and athletic? Perhaps it’s a specific sport, such as football or rugby, where you want to improve your power, or speed, or agility or a combo of all of them. Sit down with yourself, grab a pen and paper and write down what components of health and fitness matter to you the most.
Then once you’ve written them down – write down 10-20 reasons why these areas matter to you, e.g., let’s say you want to get fit for the football season.
- I want to get fit so that I can play a full 90 mins without getting out of breath.
- I want to get stronger legs to improve the power of my shot and score more goals.
- I want to eat healthier foods, and eat less junk, so that my body fat comes down and I can feel more confident on the pitch.
- I want to improve my hamstring flexibility, so I don’t get injured as much.
Then once you’ve written down what you value and why it’s important to you, then do the next.
2. Set Your Self SMART Goals
SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
Once you’ve established what you want to work towards, break your goal down. Let’s say you want to get a beach body for June 2020 you could use the SMART acronym like this:
- Specific – To get below 10% body fat
- Measurable – diet, train, and take body fat once a week
- Attainable – lose 0.5lbs per week for the next six months
- Realistic – train at least 4x per week
- Timely – achieve by June 2020
3. Hire an Expert
If you’re very disciplined and know how to accomplish your goal, then you can miss out on this step. If, however, you’re unconfident or hesitant, then why not reach out to an expert for advice and accountability?
Even just hiring a personal trainer for one session a week could make a huge difference. Your coach will take out the guesswork for you, and create a workout and meal plan that’s going to be better than any generic program grabbed from the internet! If you want guaranteed results then:
- Hire an expert
- Put in the work and do what they say
If you do the above consistently, then your results are 100% guaranteed.
4. Reward Yourself Each Step of the Way
Once you’ve broken down your goals, then make sure you reward yourself when reaching a new milestone. For example, let’s say you’ve set yourself a mini-goal of losing 14lbs (a stone in weight) before March, then once you accomplish the goal, you treat yourself to some new gym apparel.
What about treating yourself to a new tracksuit like the ones from Mass Aesthetics. Maybe you could get a new t-shirt, tracksuit bottoms, and hoodie so that you feel confident in the gym, or while out on a jog. You could also give yourself a mini diet break for 1 or 2 days, or a cheat meal of your choice. Either way, acknowledge and reward yourself for your efforts.
5. Be Adaptive & Play the Long Game
Ups and downs are inevitable. You may get sick and not be able to train for 3-7 days. You may get injured and be out of action. You may have relationship troubles, etc. Whatever it may be, accept that the road to achieving your goals is never easy, you will be tested and challenged along the way. See your journey as a computer game, trying to work through the levels and progress, some levels will be harder than others, but keep going and find ways through.
If you lose motivation at some stage (most people will do), then realign yourself with your goals, take some time out, sit down and focus on why you’re doing all of this in the first place. Visualise the end outcome and reignite the fire within.
Thanks for reading, wishing all of you the very best of luck for 2020. May you be happy, healthy, and achieving the goals that genuinely matter to you!
