It is statistically proven that the majority of new year’s resolutions are broken well within the first week. How sad is that? If you’re still going strong and sticking to your goals, congratulations! You’re ahead of 75 percent of the population. Now if you’re in the majority, you’re probably wondering why is it that so many people just aren’t able to follow through with the things they set out to do. Oftentimes people lose motivation after the first few days and then spend the rest of the year watching their favorite professional athletes, instagram models and actors continue to achieve their goals and wonder, how is it that those people manage to stay motivated year-round? These are not ordinary people with ordinary goals either, they are extraordinary people who set out to do extraordinary things. So why is it that you are not able to stick to your own?
Surely it is easy around the holidays to set high goals and expectations when all of our friends and family members are doing it. Let’s be honest, if you don’t, it means you’re basically saying your life and habits are perfect and you have nothing to change, right? So naturally we all jump on this bandwagon of growth and change in order to become “the best version of ourselves.” There’s nothing wrong with this, and I promise you are more than capable of achieving whatever it is you desire in life. But the question still remains unanswered. Why do so many of these resolutions fail, and how do we stay motivated?
Being a model, health and fitness is my life. My career depends on maintaining a great physique and that was something I knew when I decided to pursue my dreams full on. It is extremely difficult to say the least, but I would not change it for anything. One of the most common questions I get asked is how I stay motivated to go to the gym, eat right and stay true to my goals. Well I am going to tell you the secret to being able to unlock this motivation.
The secret lies in this very question, “What’s your ‘why?'” Whatever your goal is, why is it that you are trying to make that change or reach that particular goal? Is it because you want to look better, have more energy or impress the girl of your dreams? I can promise you this: if that reason is for anyone other than yourself, it will fail. There are a couple of things that separate the people who succeed from the people who don’t. Firstly, people who succeed, or “winners” I will call them, are individuals who have set goals that are completely selfish. They are doing it for no other reason than to better themselves…but it also goes much deeper than that.
Not only does your goal have to be for you, your goal needs to pull you. When you look at where you are now versus where you want to be, does your end goal literally pull you? Do you have a pit in your stomach or chip on your shoulder that is constantly thinking about that goal? Is there a voice in your head that is repeatedly yelling at you to make that change? If you cannot physically and mentally feel your future self pulling you to the finish line, your goal is not important enough to you deep inside, and your subconscious will push it aside without a second thought. This is at no fault of your own, you just may not have not found what pulls and drives you to that extent like winners have.
Professional athletes, celebrities or people who are in the top one percent are people who know exactly what it is they want to accomplish in their lives. To be honest, these people are not even thinking about obstacles because they are too busy running full sprint with blinders on towards what they know in their heart is their destiny. Winners do not call them “goals” or “resolutions” because they do not wait until the first of every year to start going after the things they want most in their lives. They start from the moment they first come to this realization.
When looking back at the goals you had set for yourself at the beginning of 2019, regardless of if you have been able to stick to them or not, ask yourself this question. What is my “why?” Why is it that I truly want to do this? After answering that question, then ask yourself that question again, and again. For example, if your goal is to save money, ask yourself why it is that you want to save money. If your answer is to buy a new car, ask yourself “why is it that I want to buy a new car?” then keep going. Ask yourself “Why” until you know exactly what is at the very base of the things you desire. What is the root that is pulling your thoughts, desires, and actions? Is it love, greed, sadness or longing for acceptance? Once you find what is really pulling you to make a specific change in your life, it is only then will you be you will able to figure out why it is that your resolution failed.
Hold on, it goes even deeper than that.
When you close your eyes at night, what do you see? What do you dream about? During the day when you zone out, what do you think about? For winners, it is the same thing every time.
The reason I have been able to stay so motivated to continue working out and making my health a priority is because I know without a doubt exactly what it is that I want. Every single time I close my eyes I see the exact same thing. The first thought that I have in the morning and the last thought I have at the end of the day is the exact same thing. It is that very same thing that is the root of every decision I make. I am not worried about obstacles or consequences because I am too focused on doing exactly what it is I know I was born to do, just as every other professional athlete or model or actress does.
This motivation factor comes from a fire inside of you that gets lit one day and does not die after a few days once the initial new year celebrations have died down. It is similar to the difference between love and lust; lust fading and true love lasting.
If at the end of the day you find that you just do not know what you truly want out of life, that is perfectly okay. Do not beat yourself up if you just made a list of things that would look impressive to someone else, we have all been there. Instead of setting goals that ultimately do not drive you and lead to disappointment in yourself for not following through with things that ultimately were not meant for you, make your resolution to try and find what it is that you love most in the world instead. Make your 2019 goal to be to find what you are most passionate about and what pulls you in the direction you were meant to go in.
I promise, you will find your purpose and you will be successful. Like I had mentioned in my previous post, you are on your own timeline, and what is meant to be will be. Just pray that you have the courage to go after it when it comes your way.
