Stickiness Factor

I heard this term from one of my new publishers during a training I facilitated in December. He coined it (thanks, Kevin), and used it to relate to how long our magazines are able to stay in the homes of our readers.  I said to myself, "Self, what's the stickiness factor of our resolutions?  How long do we keep these around before we completely give up?"

It's the beginning of the year.  I know it's February now, but it's technically still the beginning, right?  So, the question is:  how many of you are still in the routine of working out however many times you said you would?  Or how consistent have you been with any of those new goals, for that matter.  Have you fallen off, yet?  If you have, consider this: Maybe you made your goal too broad. If you've never worked out before, you're probably not gonna be able to sustain working out for an hour for 7 days a week. You know the best way to eat an elephant?  No, not with a knife and fork. One bite at a time. Lacking motivation?  Most people lack motivation because they don't have a rat's you know what about what's driving them, what makes them get up in the morning.  Do you know?  If everybody stuck to the goals they were so intense about in the beginning of the year, how much better would the world be?  How much healthier would we be?  What better givers would we be?  Here's a few tips to get you on the right track for keeping those NYR.  You're welcome. 

1. Start small. Tiny chunks. If you've never exercised, pick 2 or 3 days a week, 10 minutes. That's it. Commit small before you commit big. Once you do that for a while, add a day. Once you're up to 5-6 days, add 5 minutes. Before you know it, you'll be down 10 pounds and feeling better. 
2. Figure out what motivates you. What are you playing for?  (Yes, I ended that sentence with a preposition, mom).  I work out because I like food more than sex,  and I have to offset that. (Well maybe not that much, but there are times when it's a real close second).  My other motivation is that I don't want my mom to call me fat.  I'm clearly still dealing with childhood issues. Don't judge me. Next, I'm trying to set a solid example for my boys. We have to show our kids what good looks like. And finally, I like looking fit. Is that vain?  I wouldn't call it that, I just like to look in the mirror, bucket naked, and like what I see liking back at me. If I don't, it's time for JUICE FASTS AND EXTRA WORKOUTS!  Figure out why you need to make a change, and let that be your motivation.  Oh yeah, my other reason is because I wouldn't mind looking like that pic of Stacey Dash when she was 40.  Look it up. IJS. No homo. 
3. Write it down. Put it in a book, or on your bathroom mirrors, wherever. I read somewhere that you need to write your vision and make it plain. Any guesses from where that came? #lookitup. You need to look at these and say them everyday to remind yourself of what the goal is. 
4. Find an accountability partner.  Chances are, you're not strong enough to pull off major changes by yourself. Most of us aren't. But that's why we have friends. You need someone who will really hold your feet to the fire. My workout partner makes sure I workout, ESP when I don't feel like it. He'll text me, "Bike in 10 minutes."  NOOO!!!!  But, it works. Instead of not training, I do. And, I usually go longer than I intended. 

So that's it. I know you're probably craving for more, but here's the deal: If I give you 10 things to do, chances are you won't do any.  So I'll give you a few, and maybe you'll heed 1. Make me proud and heed all of them!  You can do this. Keep me posted on your progress. Still, Happy New Year!