A new year often brings new opportunity to re-evaluated what worked for you in the previous year and a chance to change and delete what didn't.

Usher in the New Year's Resolutions....how are those goin' for ya?

Have you read the statistic that states that most of us quit our New Years Resolutions by January 19th each year? What?!?

I believe it to be true. In previous years, I have set lofty, unsustainable goals without a plan of how to stick with the goal when "life" ultimately happens.

Everything changed when I set a goal that was based on something that I could achieve on my busiest day, on a day of travel or even achieve it on a day when I was sick. AND I had a method for keeping track of how often I hit that daily goal. I am a sucker for a habit tracker:)

Here's an example: you want to add more movement in your daily routine. You set your alarm an hour early every morning to drive to the gym or go for a run in the neighborhood. This is sustainable for the short term, but when a child gets sick and you're short on sleep, you're quickly derailed. And it is so tough to gain the motivation to get started back once again. So you give up and wait for the motivation to come back one day in the future.

This happens a lot. But what if it didn't have to?

Here's another example: you want to add more movement in your daily routine. You realize that past goals have been derailed and you want this time to be different. You set aside a few minutes to really plan how you will overcome any challenges that could derail you from reaching your goal. In this planning, you imagine your busiest day and how you might fit movement in that day. You decide how much time would 'count' as movement. You decide what movement would count toward your goal. What would that look like? A 10 minute walk after lunch? A 10 minute stretch session before a day of travel? And as motivation, you find a way to track your progress on paper or digital giving you a little dopamine hit every time you check the box.

This method can be used to plan any goal you would like to achieve. It is intentional and very sustainable. And you may find that it can even end up being enjoyable!

Give this a try and let me know how this works for you!