Hopefully you are well into your workout regimen and not scratching your head, thinking to yourself, “Is this the year that I’ll finally get into a routine?” I think most people fall prey to the marketing hype and spend good money on well-intentioned health goals, never realizing those goals to fruition months into the new year. Simply put, a new year is not enough motivation alone to keep you focused on and sticking with a new fitness regimen.

Many people wait until they hit a breaking point or a major event (i.e. a heart attack, getting married, etc.) to change their bad habits. Please do not let this be you! Think preventative. Also, think about your family, your significant other, and most importantly, think about yourself. It’s not selfish to dedicate time to fitness. When people start seeing the benefits of a well-rounded fitness program, they tend to stick with it. It gives them confidence in appearance; they like the way the feel physically and emotionally, and they feel better because they have more energy and a higher metabolism.

The biggest hurdles that people face is getting to a point in their lives to make a change. The next big challenge is to implement that desire to change. Lately, I have been trying to redirect all of our clients’ focus on forming the habits, rather than the numbers and results. Forming good habits will help you successfully reach your goals of losing weight, gaining muscle, and being healthier. Here are some tips that will ensure success in establishing these habits:

1. The why.Understand your motivation and reasoning for wanting to change your health. Is it to lower your heart rate, fix a health issue, lose unwanted fat, feel better, prepare for a special event, train for a race, improve your self-image, or some/all of the above? Either way, your reason has to be powerful enough to keep you going. I would challenge you to really contemplate “the why” and fully commit to acting on it. This may be emotionally challenging because we act on emotions, and our physical state is often times representative of those emotional decisions.
2. This can be a workout partner, a trainer, or a group setting or class where everyone expects you to be there. In any of these scenarios, establish specific times and days that work for everyone and DO NOT change them. If you have a partner that changes them frequently or bails, find a new partner. You don’t have time for that. Don’t be that person, either! It will derail your success. Also, do not choose unrealistic goals or a workout routine where you will most likely fail. It’s better to start easy and build up than to start hard, crash, and then give up.
3. Habits. Do this routine for 6 weeks in a row, never faltering. Whatever you decide, stick to it like your life depends on it! This 6 week window is the most critical to establishing the habit. After being very consistent for six weeks, you won’t think twice about it because it’s now part of your regular routine.

By following these three tips, you’ll have a great start to feeling so much better this year! Good luck—you got this!