SMART goals - self-obsessed, measurable, appropriate, realistic and a waste of time.

By bandying around phrases like: New Year - New You, the multi-billion pound diet industry strongly implies that there must be something very wrong with each and every one of us if we need to constantly reinvent ourselves every year.  Woman's Hour, with Jane Garvey and Jenni Eclair and Viv Goskrop, on Monday, discussed this very topic (you can listen to it here) and came to a similar conclusion.

On the other hand, if a New Year's Resolution is what it takes to get you to make positive changes that boost your self-esteem and develop confidence and ability and strength of body, mind and character, then that is not necessarily a bad thing!

What I object to is the diet industry and popular media's suggestion that we all want to look the same.  I know overweight people who are kind, funny, quick and successful in their endeavours.  I  know similar people who are skinny, I know fat bitches and thin bitches.  I know fit people who happen also to be overweight and thin people who are fit and thin people who are not fit and the ones I want to spend time with are the ones who have something to talk about other than what they look like!

I have said in previous posts, goal-setting can be counter-productive - setting yourself specific targets of a dress size or a specific weight stops you focusing on what is actually important and that is:
having something to say and being fit and healthy enough to go on saying it comfortably into your old age!

So rather than focusing on a new you that simply takes up less space, why not focus on a new you that does something every day that makes you feel proud, that does something every day that stretches you, that helps someone else or teaches you a new skill?  Or why not go and do something every day that goes towards your health, fitness and well being?

You don't have to hit the gym, a brisk walk, that leaves you hot, sweaty and out of breath, for more than 20 minutes a day, is enough to get your heart pumping!  It will loosen up your joints and ease your aching limbs!

If you can be bothered, do press ups and squats every day.  Everyone has 3 minutes spare!

If you do one other exercise, master the overhead squat - only with a broom handle - this is the best way to ensure all your joints are aligned correctly and will help put an end to back pain and dodgy knees and funny hips!  It's great for good posture; it is hard but once you've got it - it's brilliant!  
Make sure you push your shoulders back, without pushing your hands back and pull the bar apart with your hands as if you were trying to break it.  Then squat as low as you can go - the lower the better.  Make sure your knees don't collapse inwards as you stand up.

Don't bother trying to reinvent yourself. Don't bother with specific, measurable, time-framed goals. Just make a decision to be the best version of you that you can be and get on with it!