Adjust your mindset right now: you have NOT failed if those rash New Year’s resolutions have been tougher than expected. With a little tweak here and t here, you can nai l your goa ls simply by reframing them

Words: Louise Pyne

Fed up of your New Year’s resolutions falling by the wayside come February? Research shows that around 80 per cent of resolutions are discarded within a few weeks. So while setting them can be a great idea, in order to strive for positive change in your life, as a nation we’re pretty rubbish at sticking to them.

So why are the odds stacked up against us? And why do we fail? “We generally set goals that, although are exciting, are too big and not sustainable. It’s more sensible to break down aims into bite-sized chunks that are more manageable,” says running expert and nutritionist, Helen Morton.

Don’t get us wrong. Fitness goals are important. They extend our perception of what is possible and force us to push ourselves to our physical and mental limits. They give us a sense of achievement and help raise our self confidence. But some of us are setting the wrong type of resolutions. So while it’s good to have a bigger picture of what you want to get out of 2020, it’s important to focus on how you are going to get there. Otherwise your goal will feel more pipe dream than actually achievable.

Here we share some of the most common running resolution fails and how to tweak them to ensure you smash your goals.

RESOLUTION RESET

RESOLUTION FAIL: VOWING TO RUN EVERY DAY

Unless you’re already a seasoned running pro with a targeted goal in mind, such as training for an endurance race, running ever y day might well be an unattainable aim. Of course, we’re not trying to put you off pounding the pavements. Setting an intention to run more often is a great way to make sure you see positive changes in your performance, But vowing to run every single day come rain or shine is probably not the best way to go if you’re just starting out on the fitness scene. “Running ever y day is a great goal, but it takes time and energy. It can be a step too far unless you were already exercising daily,” says Helen. If you’re relatively new to running, a more progressive, reasonable goal might be starting out with one ex tra fitness session per week than you already do. And then slowly building this up over the weeks so it becomes more sustainable – think progress, not perfection! Choosing the same time to work out every day may make it become more of a habit and something you look forward to instead of putting it off. “And if you’re already a keen runner, you could set a goal to run ever y other day and do a different form of exercise (like yoga, spin class, strength training, walking, dance class) on the days you don’t run,” continues Helen. This will help to keep fitness sessions fresh, and enables you to focus on strengthening muscles that are needed to keep up stamina when you run.

RESOLUTION RESET

RESOLUTION FAIL: AIMING TOO HIGH