Five tips to reach your New Year’s resolution goals Published Dec. 30, 2015 By Joe Gonzalez 4th Aerospace Medicine Squadron SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- It's that time of the year and the common theme around the New Year is to write down New Year's Resolution goals. The key to accomplishing your goals is to break the cycle of failure and develop a habit of success that works around your hectic life and works for you. Here are five great tips to get you started. 1. Objective goals vs. outcome goals Don't get me wrong, having a goal to lose 15 pounds or running your fitness assessment test under 10 minutes is awesome, but how much control do you have with that? One of the reasons why I see people fail so often is because they are so focused on the outcome instead of the steps to reach the outcome. Using the above examples, instead of making an outcome goal of losing 15 pounds of body fat, start by saying that every day you will eat your bodyweight in grams in protein, or you will drink less sugary beverages for the next 3 months, or you will track all of your food consumption for the next 90 days in a fitness app and adhere to the prescribed calories. These are all objective goals to reach your overall outcome to lose excess body fat. Instead of saying that you want to run your mile and a half in less than 10 minutes, you'll incorporate 1-2 days per week of interval training into your running program, or add in 8-12 minutes of metabolic conditioning sessions at the end of your resistance training routine, or increase your total running volume 10 percent per week. The idea is to reverse engineer your outcome goals by setting mini objective goals that will ultimately lead you to finally crush your New Year's Resolution. 2. Go all in When I was in high school the Harlem Globetrotters entertained us for the day. At halftime, there was a man who juggled the famous red, white, and blue basketballs on sticks. I didn't learn a lesson until a decade and a half later, but the juggler was successful because in order to balance multiple spinning basketballs on sticks, he first had to apply all of his focus and energy on one at a time. After that, once the basketball(s) were spinning successfully on the sticks - all he had to do was add maintenance spins to keep them going. Make a list of what's important to you: finances, family, fat loss, etc. Go all in until you are comfortable to attack the next important task until all you have to do is add "maintenance spins" to keep them going successfully. 3. Be the tortoise not the hare I see this over and over and over. Everyone sets their New Year's Resolution goals, hits the gym HARD, and burns themselves out faster than they were able to quote the goal. I read to my 6-month-old son the tortoise and the hare book on a regular occasion. Every time I read that book, the tortoise is undefeated. This can't be stated enough, do as much as needed and not as much as possible. If you haven't worked out in quite a while, it makes zero sense to run for an hour or max out your lifts in the gym. This will leave you incredibly sore and you won't be able to train for at least three to five days. If you do this, it'll be that much harder to develop and achieve successful objective habits and you'll be constantly starting at day one over and over. Just because you can do more now doesn't mean you should. Go back to tip number one, stick to your plan, and don't rush things. 4. Don't fret over the misses Life isn't perfect, nor should you be expected to hit the bulls-eye every time. Too many people beat themselves up because they miss a training session or didn't achieve one of their objective goals (e.g. not eating pizza on Saturday nights). If you miss, get back on the wagon and crush it the next day, the next session, the next week, etc. Don't let one misstep derail you from completing your goals. Also, don't double your efforts to catch-up. The main thing is to not let the misses accumulate. 5. Have a Wingman We preach this all the time, right? In this sense, we all, myself included, need an "accountabilibuddy." Don't let this journey be a lonely one. Grab a friend, make a friend, join an online community, or chronicle your journey on social media. Find people who share the same mindset as you and understand your goals. Be vulnerable enough to let them push, coach, and inspire you. Surround yourself in a complimentary community and avoid the negativity. Undoubtedly, there will be wavering times of weakness. Lean on your community for the support you need and they will drive you to new levels you didn't think were possible. Finally, reciprocate the effort. If you are pushing and evaluating your community, you will add value to the group and the average will rise with that. For more information or support to reach your goals, contact the Health Promotions at (919) 722-0407.