16 Biggest New Year’s Resolution Mistakes to Avoid

Hanging With the Wrong Crowd

If you want to fly with eagles you need to get out of the chicken coop. Surrounding yourself with people who want to achieve similar goals to yours will push you to the next level.

If my goal were to become a better powerlifter it wouldn’t make sense for me to hang around with people who lifted less than me. You want to put yourself around guys who are twice as strong as you and know how to be a good workout partner.

If you do that, you’ll reach your goal much faster.  

Not Rewarding Yourself

Celebrate the little victories; never forget how far you have come. Not stopping to realize what you have accomplished can leave you feeling disappointed. It’ll also keep you motivated to keep moving forward.

Ignoring Nutrition

Eighty percent of your results will come from your diet. Whatever your resolution may be, taking a more serious approach toward your eating can take your physique to the next level.

You should always be striving to hit your macros and never find yourself eating aimlessly. Eat to live, don’t live to eat.

Not Asking for Help

It’s OK to ask for help, especially if you’re getting help from a trainer or online coach.

Having someone develop a plan for you may help you second-guess yourself less, too. Sometimes it’s easier to just execute a plan drawn up for you rather than trying to make your own.

A good trainer can help you overcome your doubts and break any plateau you may come across.

Overlooking the Details

Setting good detailed goals is one thing, but trying not to overlook anything is another. A lot goes into setting a goal and doing what it takes to accomplish that goal.

Don’t overlook the minor details that come with achieving what you’re setting out to do.

Do all the necessary research, and leave no stone unturned.

Skipping Deadlines

Setting deadlines and end dates gives you a sense of urgency, and that sense of urgency can be that push you need.

If you give yourself an undetermined amount of time to accomplish something, you’ll likely procrastinate along the way.

When you have a deadline, you force yourself to do things you may not normally do.

Fearing Failure

It’s OK to fail. In fact, it can be a good thing. When we fail at things, it becomes a powerful learning experiment.

When Thomas Edison created the light bulb it took him over 1,000 times to perfect it. Keep that in mind when you’re feeling discouraged.

Not Tracking Results

I’m a big advocate for using a workout and food journal. These two tools are extremely important to anyone who wants to get results.

When you write all the details of your workout and your food intake, it makes it easy to see mistakes you may be making and will allow you to see what’s getting you results.

Your body is your own science experiment, and your journals are your lab reports.

Without a log, how how will you know if what you’re doing is truly working?

Being Impatient

This one goes hand-in-hand with not setting clear and distinct goals, but rushing the process is a sure fire way to set yourself up for failure. Let’s face it: Everybody wants a quick fix and to get results overnight. The problem is that the results don’t last.

For long-lasting results, you need to take your time and go through every step of the journey.

Think about it: How many people do you know who drop 30 to 40 pounds in a month? I’m sure you know of at least a couple of people. That may sound great, but how many of those people actually managed to keep those 30 or 40 pounds off?

Taking your time and spreading that weight loss over a year will lead to more gradual permanent weight loss. You’ll adopt more lifestyle techniques doing it that way as opposed to suffering for a month.

Overthinking It

Talk is cheap, start doing more! Do not be one of those people who just say, “I am going to do this, or I am going to do that”. Be about it; start taking more action, if you set a goal to gain muscle well then make sure you actually get to the gym.

Goals aren’t achieved on hopes and dreams.

Not Using a Buddy

It’s one thing to set a goal but another thing to follow through. Most people fail because they do not have someone to be accountable too.

This is why people hire trainers and online coaches, its not that they do not know how to exercise they just need someone to be on top of them pushing them to the next level.

Setting Oversized Goals

I always urge all my clients to break down their main goal into smaller mini goals. Doing this will help keep you motivated and persist to your final goal. If you set a goal to lose 4lbs of fat per month, then I would break that down to making sure you lose 1lb per week.

Smaller more achievable goals will make the overall process more fun because you can hit these milestones a lot faster.

Being Inconsistent

I have to be honest; I hate New Year’s resolutions. It causes people to set huge goals for themselves and never hit them.

If you have an issue you want to change, or a goal you want to achieve you need to begin now! No time like the present to make a change. Waiting until a certain date will not make the process easier or give you more willpower.

Start now and get it done.

Not Staying Focused

I do not like when people set multiple goals. “I want to bring up my chest/ back/ calves and arms” is too much to take on at once. You need to

F- Follow

O- One

C- Course

U- Until

S- Successful

If you goal is to bring up body parts you need to break up that goal into mini goals. Maybe choose a bodypart a month and put all your focus into in. When your mind is wandering around from goal to goal you actually get less done.

Setting Unrealistic Goals

I’ve heard some crazy resolutions like, “I want to lose 40 pounds of fat in a month.” Setting unrealistic goals can leave you feeling very frustrated when you cannot achieve them.

While it is good to set big goals I recommend breaking them down into smaller achievable goals.  

A better example would be: “I want to lose four pounds of fat per month for 10 months.” Four pounds per month is much more achievable and a lot easier to take on.

Set yourself up for success not failure.

Setting Unclear Goals

Most people set goals that are not specific. The number one resolution is “I want to lose weight.” Problem is that is to general and not specific enough. Losing weight can mean loosing 1lb or 20lbs.

Set specific goal that are zeroed in to exactly what you want.

A good example would be, “I want to lose 20 pounds by June 1.” The more definite, the better chance you will have to achieve it.