James Cordan and special guest Meghan Trainor actually made a song to remind people that they are wasting their with resolutions and are setting themselves up for failure. Really guys?

On top of this we have the usual whining of the gym “regulars” about how crowded it's going to be now that everyone wants to “suddenly” get in shape!

It’s interesting how soon we forget that at one point we were those same people just trying to motivate ourselves to start.

Well I’m here to tell you that you SHOULD still make new year's resolutions and you absolutely CAN keep them AND succeed.

Here is why and how!

WHY YOU SHOULD STILL MAKE THEM
Why the hell not? Still making them means that you still have hope.

I make my major resolutions on my birthday because that’s what makes sense for me, but I also make other resolutions for the end of each calendar year simply because I had more things that I wanted to work on.

The first rule is THERE ARE NO RULES. And stop letting other people's negativity about their ability to keep their resolutions affect you making yours.

My newest resolutions for 2016:
I choose to love myself more. I will do this first by not eating, doing and accepting things that do not serve me.

I have made significant changes to my eating and drinking habits, starting with cutting out foods that my body rejects. Food/Beverages shouldn’t make you feel sluggish or bloated. I have cut out anything that doesn’t make me feel good.

HOW DO YOU SUCCEED?
Ok for this one I’ll make a list.

KISS – Keep It Simple Silly
Remember this one from many grade school lessons? It still applies here. Don’t resolve to change the world. Keep it simple, taking it one day and one goal at a time.

Make a Plan:
A good way to do this is choose one goal a month for the year or set it out so you fully understand what you need to do.

So let’s say your goal is to work out more. Answer these questions to make it an actual plan.

How many times/week? ( set a realistic goal of 2-3 days)
What is the minimum length of each workout? ( set a minimum of 45 minutes actually working out, not just being in the gym or in your gym clothes)
What days are my workout days going to be? (Make it a priority that Tuesday and Thursday are reserved to workout and Saturdays are bonus days when you can make it.)

Create your own positive “Snowball” effect.
If you’ve ever read the book “The Secret” or other books like it, the common theme is that once you start living a positive and progressive lifestyle, everything you’ve ever dreamed of will fall into place.

This is the snowball effect.

It stems from the example of making a snowman. Before you can make a snowman, you first have to have snow. And it can’t just be regular snow, it has to be that sticky snow.

The snowflakes are your resolutions. But they can’t just be a bunch of random “snowflakes” or thoughts, they have to stick. They need to have heart behind it. The snowflakes that stick are your dreams, those things that you really let yourself want.

There has to be a plan in place so that each snowball is the right size.

And of course, you have to be willing and ready to do the work of rolling those snowballs.

You already know these things, but sometimes we all need a little reminder.

So this is my reminder that YOU have the power and ability to make great positive changes. Resolve to allow yourself to grow. Resolve to be a better you!