Lately I’ve been finding motivational images really inspiring in my own health and fitness endeavors. I’ve been reading The Power of Positive Thinking which has shown me how important it is to surround myself with positive images and thoughts.
If I’m not feeling like a workout for the day I can browse my blog or Pinterest for a few minutes and I find the motivation coming back. There is something positive that is triggered by these images that makes me want to go conquer the world! Or just workout. Since moving more and getting enough exercise each week is one of my personal new years resolutions, I decided to share 15 inspiring images that are motivating me right now as I make my New Year’s Resolutions for 2015.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 1 – The question isn’t can you? It’s will you?
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 2 – She believe she could, so she did.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 3 – Stop wishing, start doing.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 4 – Today is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one!
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 5 – The new year means nothing if you’re still in love with your comfort zone. (So true!)
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 6 – This is the year I will be stronger, braver, kinder, & unstoppable. This year I will be fierce!
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 7 – Make yourself proud.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 8 – New Year’s Resolutions? I just have two.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 9 – Here’s to us. Here’s to ordering a salad when you really want a burger. To making an ass out of ourselves in cardio hip hop class. To drinking more water than seems humanly possible. To going five more minutes on the elliptical. To saying screw you to the old you. To falling in lovewith the you who you want to become. To looking in the mirror and not seeing any change, throwing on your running shoes and working out anyway. To looking in the mirror and seeing major change. Here’s to carrots and shin splints, and sweaty tshirts, and perseverance, and sore muscles, and stinky socks, and 7 am, and spin classes, and falling down, and getting back up, and bottled water. Here’s to getting up every day and doing it all over again.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 10 – Make the next 12 months the year of you. Every athlete everybody. It’s time to bring your best then better it. Whatever you do, make it count.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 11 – Do it now. Sometimes later becomes never.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 12 – I’m making myself fit. I’m making myself shine. I’m making myself strong. I’m making myself vigorous.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 13 – Believe you can and you’re halfway there.
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 14 – Don’t think about what can happen in a month. Don’t think about what can happen in a year. Focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what you can to get closer to where you want to be. (Important one for all year as the new year shine fades!)
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Inspiration 15 – It’s time to work a little harder. (YES!)
Bonus time….
31 Tips for Unbreakable Resolutions
31 Tips for Unbreakable Resolutions
These are great because there is one for every day in January!
- Happy New Year! If you haven’t settled on your top goals for the year, do so today. Writing down your goals (in specific terms) means you’re more likely to achieve them.
- Are your goals specific and positive? Rather than vowing “to exercise” for example, reword each goal so that it is clear and measurable: I will walk 30 minutes every day. I will complete a 5k race. I will do a yoga DVD twice a week.
- Post your written goals in places where you’ll see them often – on your computer or fridge, in a picture frame on your desk, as a bookmark in your wallet. These reminders will help you stay focused and on track.
- Develop an action plan for every goal. For example, a healthy eating resolution may involve: learning more about good nutrition, visiting a dietician, finding ways to adapt your recipes, buying containers to pack lunches, learning how to prepare new foods and planning extra time for shopping and cooking. Don’t overwhelm yourself with every action step at once, but focus on a few things each day.
- Make a realistic timeline to stay on track. Deadlines turn wishes into goals. Give yourself adequate time to complete each action step and choose a date when you hope to reach your overall goal. If you haven’t started working on your goals yet, today is the day!
- Share your goals with family and friends for invaluable support and assistance. Confiding in them is a powerful motivator for helping you remain consistent and persistent. Some may be willing to modify their own lives to help you by giving up soda or watching the kids while you hit the gym for example.
- Enlist a diverse support system instead of just one buddy. These people should be encouraging and knowledgeable in helpful ways, whether swapping healthy recipes, exercising with enthusiasm, or sharing weight loss tips.
- Start a journal. This can be a simple notebook or a computer document. Use it to track your progress, record your successes and learn from your mistakes. When you have a bad day, use it to remember why you chose these goals and how far you’ve come.
- Create a motivational collage. Find inspiring pictures, encouraging words and quotes or anything that reminds you of your goal. Glue it all together and place it where you can see it daily. This is your vision board – a clear, motivating and energizing reminder of who you want to be.
- Don’t expect perfection. You will mess up, make mistakes, and forget along the way. The key is persistence and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Focus on what you’ve done right instead of dwelling on the negative.
- Practice saying, thinking, and writing positive things about yourself. Acknowledge and take credit for the things you’ve done well, and recognize your abilities and talents. Keep a list to add to, think about and ready to yourself daily.
- Develop a plan B. Work, travel, or kids will disrupt your routine, so create alternatives – walk during lunch, choose healthy fast foods or wake up earlier. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.
- Take advantage of technology. Sign up for motivational emails or text messages, set reminders on your computer or have a friend call or check in on you. These little things will keep you focused no matter where you are.
- Reward yourself. For each milestone you reach, plan something fun. Rather than using food or skipping a workout to celebrate, stay on track with new clothes, a massage, a vacation, movie tickets, a book, a day off work, or a gym membership.
- You’re halfway there! Today look back on your progress and reevaluate your goals. Are you on track with your timeline? Is your goal still important? Are you motivated? Make changes to your goals, if necessary, to keep the momentum strong!
- Avoid saboteurs. People will try to persuade you to go against your plan, whether they feel guilty themselves or jealous of you. Ignore them. Share your goals with positive people and stay away from these topics around the negative ones.
- Write about your motivation in your journal. There are many reasons you chose your goals – better health, self-esteem, or happiness. Pull all these reasons on paper and read them when you need motivation.
- On a calendar or spreadsheet, place a BIG sticker, star, or checkmark on every day that you met your goals or took positive action steps. Over time, your calendar will become a visual reminder of your progress towards that long-term goal. It will also remind you that the occasional bad day doesn’t have a major effect in the long-run.
- Find a goal buddy. While your support group should still be in place, a person who is striving for the same goal can offer greater support, inspiration, and accountability. He or she will count on you just as much as you count on them.
- Visualize. Sit comfortable, breathing deeply, with your eyes closed. Envision your-self reaching that goal. How has your life changed? How does it feel to accomplish it? Picture all the steps you took to reach that point and believe in yourself.
- Share your knowledge. Could someone else benefit from what you’ve learned so far? Acting as a mentor can strengthen your commitment to your goals and inspire others to create positive change in their own lives. Start a weight loss blog, perhaps?
- Learn something new that inspires you. If you want to quit smoking, for example, read about successful quitters whose lives have improved, or about how smoking affects your health. Find new, specific tips for your current stage.
- Make yourself a priority. You do a lot for others, but tend to neglect yourself. Give yourself the care, attention and love that you need. Your goals are important and you deserve to take time for yourself each day in order to achieve them.
- Do less. Bombarding yourself with too many goals can be stressful. The more items you focus on, the more each task suffers from a lack of priority, attention and accuracy. Whittle down your to-do list to focus on what is really important.
- Celebrate milestones. While your long-term goal may be to lose 50 pounds or more, each pound lost is one step closer and each deserve recognition! Call a friend or write in your journal. You never know who you may inspire!
- Get the right tools. Sticking to your goals may require some supplies, like good shoes to exercise or finance software to reduce your debt. Choose the tools that keep you safe (first and foremost) and help you measure your progress.
- Add variety! To prevent boredom, try new things, enroll in a class, find a local support group, try a new workout or anything that keeps you excited.
- Create your reality. The mind doesn’t know the difference between imagined events and reality. Picture success. Try goal-related affirmations each day and your behavior will reflect what you want to be.
- Get back on track. Slipups are normal and they don’t mean failure. Instead of beating yourself up for your mistakes, tell yourself that one error doesn’t mean much. Don’t wait until tomorrow, next week or next month to get back on track – start right away. Put your mistake in the past and move forward. Even the most successful people in the world make mistakes!
- Everything is a choice. You choose to watch TV instead of walking or to de-stress by eating instead of talking to someone. Before you act, stop and ask yourself if this “solution” will really help you in the long run.
- Congratulations! You have worked hard for an entire month to help make your dreams a reality. By now, you are well on your way to achieving all of your goals. Use what you’ve learned here to keep going and set new goals in the future.
Happy New Year!! :)
Thanks for all of these great images and information. So many great words of wisdom here. I think it is important to focus on the here and now and the small manageable steps we can take today to get to our end goal. Small changes + time = drastic results. Things don’t happen overnight unfortunately (unless you get bariatric surgery)… I’ll be looking at these often to help motivate/remind myself!
Nice post! Having this beautiful images can inspires people to keep going, maintaining a balance, happy , fit and healthy life. Thanks for sharing it with us!