5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your New Years Resolution
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I know many of us set goals last New Years and we never reached them. And you know what? That’s totally okay. Saying A LOT happened this year is a complete understatement. So just how our entire life kind of got put on hold this year, it’s no wonder our goals did, too.
But as we set new goals this New Year, I want us to ensure we are setting goals that we actually SHOULD be setting. And, I want to ensure we are setting ourselves up for success for actually reaching our goals. So I have three questions I want to ask you to ensure you are actually setting realistic and healthy goals this year.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real, let's get in and let's go.
Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast. I am so grateful that you are here spending some time with me today, wherever you're tuning in. We have listeners all over the world, which is so amazing. And I cannot believe that the New Year is officially here. Well, part of me can believe that we're already here again, another part of me feels like this year was 10 years long. So I'm really conflicted. But regardless, I do know that many of us have set some goals that we went into 2020 wanting to achieve, but we never actually reached them. And you know what, if I'm the first person to tell you this, that is totally okay. Saying a lot happened this year is actually a complete understatement. So just how our entire life got put on hold this year, it's no wonder maybe some of the goals and dreams that you had at the beginning of the year did as well.
But as we set new goals this year, I want us to ensure we are setting goals that we actually should be setting. I think many of us often set goals that shouldn't even be goals in the first place. We try to cut out entire food groups, some of us go on fad diets, we try to stick to a crazy workout routine, and then we wonder why we aren't able to keep up and reach our goal. Today I want to talk about five questions I want you to ask yourself when actually setting realistic and healthy goals this year. But before I dive into asking you these five questions, I have to share this super sweet review. It comes from Erica Kate 98. She says, "Practical and empowering. Thank you, Julie, for putting these important truths into tangible and empowering tools for us to use. You've helped me in more ways than you could know. The mantras you give us are easily incorporated into my thought habits and action habits."
Ooh, I love that so much, "Into my thought habits and action habits." So, so good. If you haven't already rated and reviewed the podcast, it really does help us out. So if this podcast has helped you in any way this year, my one ask from you is that you leave a review over on Apple podcasts if you can. So scooch over there, scroll all the way down, you can click rate and review, it takes less than 30 seconds. If not, if you listen on Spotify or another streaming platform, I just ask that you post it up on your story, tag Embrace Your Real and tell your friends to tune in. Okay, so let's dive into these five questions that I want you to ask yourself. Question number one, is this a goal that you actually need to reach?
I'm just going to cut to the chase here. I think many of us set New Year's goals to lose a certain amount of weight. AK, we need to lose 15 or 20 pounds or whatever it may be. But in actuality, we may not even have 15 or 20 pounds to lose. It's just our body dysmorphia or a toxic perspective on what we think our body should look like that is making us believe that we do. So I need you to be 100% honest with yourself about that goal that you're trying to reach. Is it actually something that you need to do? Is what you're specifically telling yourself that you need to do actually necessary? And more importantly, is it actually realistic? Question number two, can you maintain it long-term? Whatever goals you want to reach or habits you want to adopt, can you maintain them long-term?
I think oftentimes we look to fad diets and quick fixes and expect them to bring the results that we want, but that's what they are. They're quick fixes and that's exactly what it's going to give you. How quickly they help you see results is just how quickly you'll see those results disappear. If you want to maintain long-term results, you have to adopt habits that you can stick to long-term. I know it sounds simple, but actually doing it can be the hard part. So you need to ask yourself, can I see myself sticking to this three months from now? What about a year from now? What about three years from now? If the answer is no, then I need you to pick a different habit and then start again and ask yourself those same questions.
Question number three. Does it fuel you? Oftentimes we set goals or adopt new habits that actually drain us physically and mentally. Long-term, your habits should excite you. They should energize you and motivate you. If they don't, you have to reconsider what you're doing and why you're doing it. AK, don't force yourself to eat a diet that leaves you starving, or don't force yourself to follow a workout plan that you absolutely hate doing. Sure, new habits can be tiresome at first. But if after week two or week three you don't feel fueled or excited about this new habit, then you need to seriously ask yourself if, whether or not what you're doing is working for you and if it's something that you should be following right now.
Question number four, do you have a plan? Oftentimes we set goals and we have big ambitions to start new habits, but then we never make a plan on how we're actually going to reach those goals or implement those new habits. We, for some reason, just expect them to happen and to fall into place. So if you're serious about a goal or serious about implementing a new habit, you have to make a plan. You need to know exactly what you're going to do to ensure that you're going to stick to it. I did actually a whole podcast on this, the seven steps to setting and actually reaching your goals. I've linked that in the show notes below. So after this episode, be sure to tune in there because that will really help you zero in on making a plan.
And question number five, are you doing too much, too fast? Now, sometimes the goals that we want to reach and the habits that we want to adopt are realistic and they are absolutely necessary for our growth. But we try to implement too much at one time, which makes it unrealistic and hard to maintain. So in order to set ourselves up for success, we need to make sure we implement them one at a time. Before we start tackling all of our goals, why don't we start by figuring out how to reach the first one. Before dumping 100 new habits into our lives, why don't we focus on making one stick first? It's okay to take one thing at a time. Actually, I highly, highly recommend it. Just because you're moving more slowly doesn't mean that you'll never get there. I believe that moving slowly but methodically will ensure that you actually get there and the habits actually stick. Slow and steady always wins the race.
In that episode that I just talked about, the seven steps to setting and actually reaching your goals, I also chat about habit stacking, which is extremely beneficial to this specific topic. So be sure to tune in. Again, I will link that in the show notes below. So those are the five questions that you have to ask yourself about your New Year's resolutions. So if you didn't already write them down, I'm going to give you a sec to pull out your phone or pull out a pen and paper so you can write them down so you can actually go through these because I want you to reach your goals. I want you to go into 2021 feeling strong, feeling empowered and feeling excited. Question number one, is this goal something you actually need to reach? Question number two, can you maintain it long-term? Question number three, does it fill you, does it excite you? Question number four, do you have a plan? And question number five, are you doing too much, too fast?
That is all that I have for today's bonus episode. I am so grateful that you are here. Thank you for tuning in. If you have someone in your life or a few friends or girlfriends that you feel like would really benefit from this podcast, I just ask that you copy the link and share it out. It could be in a text message, it could be on your Instagram story, on Facebook, however you want to share this out. I just ask that you do that to at least three people. I'm going to challenge you to at least three people, because we all want to level up. And I believe when we can level up alongside our closest friends and family, that's when it's actually going to be most fun and most exciting. Again, I love you so much. Thank you for tuning in and I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so, Julie A. Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle. For that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcast to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me, it means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.