Did you start 2018 with a weight loss goal? Did you commit yourself to getting healthier in 2018? Or maybe you wanted to work out more and get fitter this year? Whatever your health and fitness related goals were going into the New Year, the chances are, you’re starting to quit.

Research undertaken by private healthcare provider Bupa in 2015 showed that 80% of people in the UK had given up on their New Year resolution by March. This year, make sure you’re not one of them.

Here are our top tips to help you set, achieve, and maintain your goals:

1. Set A Realistic Goal

Everyone is an individual, with different life pressures, distractions, and even medical conditions that can impact on the achievement of a personal goal. Take these into consideration to make sure that you set smart and achievable goals, but don’t let them be your excuses! You are much more likely to succeed when you set a realistic goal that you can break down into bite-size goals, than when you set the bar too high.

2. Get Support

WST Community have weekly support classes where you can get advice, guidance, and reassurance, to keep you on track. Take your classes seriously, and believe that you will achieve by committing to attend class every week. This will ensure that you get the support you need.

3. Tell Others

Sharing your goal with others, either family members or close friends, makes you accountable to the goal you have set for yourself.

4. Write It Down

Whether you keep a journal, an online blog, or just a note scribbled on a piece of paper and pinned to the front of the fridge, write down what your goal is and keep track of your progress. It will be rewarding to see how far you have come, and it will motivate you to continue on your journey.

5. Use Reminders

If your goal is to fit into a certain item of clothing, lose a specific number of pounds, or to look great at a special event coming up, it can be useful to have a visual reminder to help keep you on track. Try putting a photo on the fridge door so you see it when you go looking for that midnight snack you don’t need. Or hang that special outfit you want to look great in on the back of your bedroom door so you see it every day before you leave the house. Gentle reminders like this will help keep why you’re making positive life changes at the forefront of your mind.

6. Stop Making Excuses

It’s the one tip no one really wants to hear, because change is difficult. Look in a mirror and ask yourself this – who is stopping you from achieving your goals? The answer? It’s you. When you say you can’t make it to class because your cat isn’t well, or because you have an appointment to go to, or because you haven’t had a great week so you’ll skip just one week and go next time. Every excuse you make is stopping you from achieving your goals. So instead of making excuses, commit to change, and get out of your own way.