Today we can already say it’s January 12th 2014 (still feels a little weird to say 2014 though) and it’s been almost two weeks since most people decided it was time to “lose some weight and get fit”, followed by “get the finances right”. These are the top two new years resolutions this year as every other year. And I am sure I am not the only one who is sick of seeing ads for one miracle cure after the other on how you can lose 20 kilos in no time and how you can get an amazingly toned and muscly body in just minutes per day – and the best part is; it’s sooooo much fun, you won’t believe how easy it is to lose those unwanted kilos and have the body you have always dreamed of.

Do you know what New Years Resolutions, Valentines Day and Halloween has in common? I am sure it all came from good ideas and was meant to be a nice, positive thing when it was first invented – but then advertisers realised they could earn shed loads of money on all of them and started pumping product after product marketed towards fat people, lovers and kids (or their parents, sort of, you know what I mean) to make sure we would feel even worse about ourselves and end up spending waaaaaay too much money on something that in the end of the day means nothing. Like a magic weight loss pill or an ab cruncher machine that promises gold and diamonds, but delivers gravel. Every year we hear the same ads, promising the same bull and I’m guessing the same people go for the ‘easy fix’ year after year. And it never works therefore they come back, year after year after year.

It’s time to wake up! New Years Resolutions quite often fail, because most people want to change too much too soon and don’t have specific goals and a plan on how to get there. They go all in, sign up to gyms, diet programs, yoga studios and what not. They stick to it for one, maybe two weeks and then it all turns too hard. It’s time to go back to work, the kids’ activities start up again and the good, old time poor you come back out and whisper in your ear; it’s just too hard. You don’t have time. Tell the old you to shut the f up and find a piece of paper and write down a few things you want to achieve in 2014. It can be one thing or three or ten. It can be anything from losing five kilos, save 10K or go to Hawaii. Run 5K or a Marathon. Spend an hour with your kids a day or do yoga three times per week.

I’ll just wait for you to finish that list (just going to check on my dinner in the oven while I wait. Pork Belly – yum!). If you need some thinking time, have a look at the pretty pictures instead

Now rate them from one to however many you’ve got on importance. Find another piece of paper (or even a book or a new document on your computer) and start with number one. When do you want to have achieved this by (date)? Why do you want to achieve it (is it important to you)? How are you going to achieve it (plan it all out)? Do this for all the things you want to achieve this year. Then put them all in your calendar. Plot them all in there (if you want to lose 5kilos by the 4th April 2014 – put the amount of kilos you want to weight on April 4th) – put all your points on how to get there in your calendar (go for a walk 3 mornings per week, eat five meals per day, go grocery shopping every Sunday, bring lunch to work 3 days per week and so on). Yes, this might be time consuming, but you are a million times more likely to get to your goals by the deadline you have set yourself than if you just say to yourself – I would like to lose some weight and get fit. If your resolution normally is to get your finances right, then you need to go through your spendings, figure out where you can save, how you can pay down your credit card and how much you need to save (and are able to save) to get to your savings goals by the date you want to. It’s really not that hard when you put everything down and a piece of paper (and even more easy when you share it with someone!).

Ok – so I don’t care if you just tried and failed on the resolution you made on New Years Eve after half a bottle of champagne. It’s ok to start over (and what better day that January 12th?), a little more prepared and with a plan. And how awesome will you feel when you can tick those boxes and kick those goals this year? Super Duper Awesome, that’s how awesome! Decide what you want to achieve, write it down, set a dead line, make a plan and most importantly…. wait for it… waaaaaiiiiiit for iiiiiiit; STICK to it! Yes, it may be hard at times, but it will be worth it in the end. And you will have a few relapses, but get straight back to your plan and you will get there! You can do it!

It’s starting to smell a lot like Christmas here (the Pork Belly I’ve got in the oven) so I need to prepare the last bits for dinner. If you still haven’t started writing down your goal(s), I suggest you get to work! And feel free to share them with me in a comment below. If you found this inspiring, then feel free to share it with your friends 🙂

Happy planning for a massive 2014 ~ Your best year yet!

Awesome Ashild x