Sticking to your New Year’s resolution

Anyone can make a New Year’s resolution, but sticking them out until they become habit and part of everyday life is where many run into problems.

One of the most common resolutions is getting in shape, often by resolving to finish a certain race later in the year, and that can be one of the first issues.

“One of the biggest obstacles for individuals trying to keep their resolutions is that they resolve to accomplish something that is generally outcome-based without the identification of the process or means to actually obtain the resolution,” said Kim Dawson, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University, in an email. “The second, and most important step is to identify the means by which to achieve that resolution. In general, behaviour change occurs by changing one or a combination of three things: behaviours, thoughts, or emotions. An individual must do, think, or feel something differently in order to make changes.”

Simply planning to run a specific race, or meet a specific goal, is often not enough. You need to actually resolve to make specific, immediate changes in your day-to-day life, or it’s unlikely you will follow through with a resolution. In addition, simply running a certain race won’t necessarily snap you back into shape unless you also did the proper training and preparation for it aswell.

Dawson makes three suggestions to help keep you motivated and on track to follow through on a resolution.

First, you will not always be motivated to go out and train. “This is a fallacy in thought. It is not motivation that differentiates the elite runners, […] it is their incredible behavioural discipline.” You need to understand that no one will always be completely motivated to work hard, but those who do well are the ones who are able to overcome that and realize that on the days they feel less motivated they go out and do it anyways. Learn to follow that lead, which leads to the second suggestion.

Your motivation won’t come intrinsically. Understand that the rewards from getting up early and going for a run or working out will come later. Remember what you’re trying to do.

Lastly, set aside a time when you will go out for a run, regardless of what’s going on. “Recreational runners mistakenly think that elite athletes always love what they do,” says Dawson. “They are committed to an end goal [and] disciplined to do it even when they don’t feel like it.”

So when you set your New Year’s resolutions remember that no one is always motivated to go out and run. Everyone, even the pros, often struggle with convincing themselves to just get up and out the door. Just remember that the goal is not always the run itself, but the rewards later.