Stay Put. The Other Resolutioners Will Be Gone Soon.

by Peter Shankman
Sun, 6 Jan 2008 at 2:56 PM

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Welcome to 2008. Worked out yet?

If you belong to a gym, and have gone since January 1, you've no doubt walked in and been shocked at the number of people sweating, 95% of whom weren't there on December 30.

What happened?

Simple: They're resolutioners.

Resolutioners are the gym-goers who make their promise that, come January 1, they're going to "work out!" For them, that means joining a gym, spending hundreds of dollars on initiation fees, workout clothes, and a new iPod.

Then they go to the gym for a total of two weeks, and we never see them again.

So don't worry — they'll be gone by January 15, and the gym will go back to being empty again.

But … what if you're one of them? What if you're a resolutioner? How do you make sure that come January 28, you're still there?

Easy: Promise yourself you won't think about quitting until you've seen the first result. Then make that result something achievable.

I know people who go to work out in NYC and start by running 10 miles. They've never run before, and they're trying to run 10 miles.

As soon as they hit the wall at mile three, they never go back to doing it again.

What did we learn?

Don't do that.

Set manageable, attainable goals.

I will work out three times this week. I will work out three times a week for the entire month of January, then I will weigh myself February 1.

That's a good goal.

Do that. Don't quit until you do.

Trust me: The initial hump sucks. But once you get over it, you become someone who blew past the resolutioners. And then, come summer, you're the hottie on the beach, and the resolutioners are, again, nowhere to be found. That's what you want.

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