Start the new year off right with these 5 tips to build momentum, crush your goals and make this year the best year ever.

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A new year is a nice place to signal a new start. 

It’s a fresh new calendar. A new chapter in the book. The chance to wash away the previous 365 days and start over again.

I’m all about creating a lifestyle that will allow you to live your best life. That’s more than just dumbbell goblet squats and nutrient-rich foods.

Seriously, life is too short and too important to be obsessed with that 24/7.

Today, we’re going to talk about living your best life and how we can make that happen in the new year.

Of course, I firmly believe that creating a healthy lifestyle will accentuate and even increase the amount of awesome that your life can be once you build a foundation of proper nutrition and fitness.

My hope is that this article will help free up the schedule and promote more motivation to pursue that healthier lifestyle.

But, make no mistake about it, the new start begins with these simple strategies.

Let’s get into it.

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How to start the New Year off on the right foot

I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. Largely because goals should be more measured. If you can’t measure progress towards a goal, how will you ever know if you’ve improved?

For instance, let’s say you have a weight loss goal of 10 pounds in the new year, but never track anything.

Instead of 10 pounds, you end up losing eight. That’s fantastic progress on its own. But in addition to the scale dropping, you actually lost several inches and dress sizes along the way.

In many ways, we’d call that a body transformation.

But, if you never tracked anything and didn’t even measure your weight loss along the way … you’d never know about this completely new person.

Sound silly?

Of course it does. Why? Because no one starts a weight loss journey without tracking at least something. Even if you’re simply not changing a single habit and just tracking your weight haphazardly (by the way, don’t do that … here’s how to track your weight loss progress).

All of this is to say that New Year’s resolutions can be really lofty and full of fluff without much substance.

I encourage you to take a more targeted direction in your goal setting. Once you do that, you can get to work on making sure you can live your best life in the new year. 

I. Create a plan for how you’ll start the New Year off right

In order to crush it over the next 12 months, you’ve got to have an idea of what it is you’d like to crush.

• Do you want to lose weight?
• Build muscle?
• Perhaps it’s time to finally tackle that mountain of books that are collecting dust in the corner of your room?
• Or is that you’d like to incorporate a new exercise habit?
• Maybe you’d like to learn a new language?
• There’s always the goal of balancing that budget and getting your personal finances in order?

All of these common goals are fine on the surface, but in order to really make sure they happen, you’ve got to lay out a plan to make it happen.

That also means creating some benchmarks so you can measure your progress.

If you don’t have anything to measure, those lofty goals become abstract and unattainable.

For more on how to properly set goals, you should read my guide to creating habit-based, measurable goals that will allow you to chart the proper course for the next year.

Now, if you’re having trouble determining how to set the path for the next 365 days, perhaps you’d be better off starting this year by reflecting on the previous calendar year.

II. Start the New Year off right, but finishing what you started last year

Did you have a bunch of goals that you didn’t accomplish last year? 

If you have an annual review, you’d be able to quickly go back and review what didn’t work and perhaps build a new path forward to actually take on those new goals.

Or maybe as a result of that annual review, you realized that you no longer care about those goals you set for yourself. That is totally okay, too. It’s why taking some time each year in and year out to actually think about your process and goals is so important.

Do not just set some resolutions every Jan 1 and then never revisit those objectives. It’s why so many people never move forward.

And if you aren’t moving forward, you’re essentially getting left behind.

In order to prevent being passed up, sometimes you’ve got to look in the rearview mirror to avoid getting lapped.

So take a few minutes now to think back to last year. If there is anything you missed that is worth tackling in the new year, make sure to include that in your priorities.

III. Employ the 80/20 Rule

How often have you found yourself giving anything and everything that you’ve got in order to crush that goal, only to fall flat on your face because you made it far too difficult to sustain?

We’ll take weight loss for example, because 1) it’s the most common goal and 2) it’s what I specialize in helping thousands of people achieve successfully.

You’ve made the worthy goal of losing 20 pounds your goal for the new year.

Awesome.

But in order to do it, you think you’ve got to cut out all carbs (false), avoid any and all sugar and fun foods like pizza and donuts (nope) and you’ve got to pick up a 45-60 minute daily running habit (hell no).

This sounds awful.

And it sounds awful because it is awful. It’s a total departure from your normal sedentary schedule. Because it’s almost a complete 180 degree turn, it’s next to impossible to carry that out and through to your goal.

Total restriction is not the correct path forward. Instead, you need to be more realistic, which leads to the next point.

IV. Moderation and common sense (be realistic)

You’re going to mess up. It’s inevitable. You are not going to be perfect with your weight loss goal and you’ll end up giving in to that slice of cake sometimes.

It happens, you’re human.

In fact, you should find creative ways to leave some room for indulgences like wedding cakes and pizzas and burgers from time to time.

If you approach the new year with a strict go big or go home mentality, you will end up going home. 

Understand, accept and appreciate the importance of creating balance. Then actually practice it.

Embrace a slow approach to hitting your goals and understand that this will take time. A year is a long time. A lot can happen. There’s no need to rush through things while missing the finer things in life (like pizza).

So, be realistic with yourself and maybe have a frank conversation: You know damn well that by cutting out all carbs on Jan 1 and then trying to punish yourself with a brutal diet will only lead to you falling off the wagon before Valentine’s Day.

Instead, embrace moderation and balance, have some patience, and take the slower approach to hitting those goals this year.

V. Be selfish

You are in control of your journey. No one else really cares. Seriously.

Once you understand that, it’ll be much easier to understand how to be a bit more selfish of your goals.

Protect your schedule.

Understand that you have more control over it than you realize. 

Seriously. Let’s remove the “busy” excuse from our vernacular. It’s insulting to the rest of us and implies that we’re not also juggling kids and work and life ourselves.

Your goal is to make your time a priority and execute to the fullest. 

Schedule workouts into your calendar if you must. 

Eliminate high maintenance and low return on investment activities from your week.

Be comfortable with saying “no” and turning things down in order to free yourself and provide more time for your own mental health.

Imagine the life you’d like to live. And start doing your best to mimic that lifestyle now. Ask yourself, “Is this something I can do for the rest of my life?” If not, work immediately to find ways to turn that around.

And I believe that all begins with your schedule and by making yourself the priority.

As a result, the role of parent, partner, employee, entrepreneur, person will become much easier and your family, friends and coworkers will appreciate that energy you’ve spent to work on yourself.

At the end of the day, it sounds cliche, but it really is true: How can you expect to help others if you cannot help yourself?

Remember this phrase throughout this exercise and come back to it early and often throughout your year.

If you can make this year the year that you finally appreciate and respect yourself, it’ll go a long way toward opening up the possibilities of finally experiencing those dreams you’ve set for yourself.

Let me help you learn how to start the New Year off right … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Start the New Year off right” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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