Start of the New Year is here again and most of us begin with some kind of resolutions. Stop smoking, start running again, visit my mom more often, lose 5 kilos, read at least three of those books piling up on my nightstand… Whatever the resolution, the intention is of course to fulfil it. How often that happens? I hope it does for you but I must admit that even for me, an organized-freak, the score is not always perfect. Sometimes, I start with great enthusiasm that lasts until a moment when other important stuff takes over and then… slowly my resolution fades away. How to make it happen? What to do to keep ourselves motivated to follow our plans? Is there any trick?

Yes, there is. Let me share with you a simple yet very effective method of following our plans. Of course, our topic here is fitness, core strength and flexible body – so I will use the example of fitness plan but this method applies for anything. As I said it’s simple:

Write it down and then keep yourself accountable

OK, not that easy! Here are 6 simple steps to follow:

1. Take a sheet of paper. Write down a fitness plan suiting your needs (more about that next time).
2. Lists three reasons why you do sports, why you like to be fit.
3. Write it down into Evernotes, put on your todo list, whatever organization system you are using.
4. Write a simple version on a piece of paper and stick onto your fridge, whiteboard, whatever – it has to be visible to keep you accountable.
5. Put the different fitness activities in your diary. Create slots. Don’t allow meetings or phone calls to take over these slots in your agenda. Ideally sit down for 10 mins on every Sunday and create these appointments before the week starts.
6. Make an appointment with yourself called “Fitness review” for 10 mins on each 1st day of every month. Again, schedule it in your agenda. Use this time to evaluate your progress, what goes well, what does not and adjust your plan.

You will see, it works! Not so complicated. Powerful combination of writing important things down, putting effort in creating more specific plan, displaying visibly to keep yourself accountable, scheduling activities. As a bonus, you can use your family as a support, tell them to remind you of your plans if they see you slacking 😉

Try for yourself and let me know how you are doing. Let’s make 2018 your fitness year.

Have a great day & exercise anywhere, anytime, just with your own body!