Dr. Lori Shemek On Keeping New Year's Resolutions

Dr. Lori Shemek’s Insight On Making And Keeping New Year's Resolutions | NordicTrack Blog

Defeat is a feeling often felt when we set a goal for the New Year and fail in a short time period. Perhaps the goal was unrealistic. Maybe life events got in the way. But one thing is for sure: Dr. Lori Shemek teaches us that internal rewards are the best motivator. How can we set goals based off of intrinsic values and desires? Lori has a few suggestions:

Question: Please share a goal/New Year’s Resolution that you had set for yourself and actually stuck with. Why were you successful in maintaining this goal?

Dr. Lori: “Last year I decided one of my fitness goals was to incorporate more push-ups and pull-ups into my routine. So, I made the commitment that every time I passed through a certain doorway (I had a chin-up bar placed there) that I would do 5 pull-ups. I also made the commitment that once a night while watching the news, I would add extra push-ups to my fitness routine. I already had both of these in my exercise program, but simply adding in a few more a day has allowed me to increase my strength and the number of them.”

Question: In your opinion, what factor(s) determines a realistic and worthwhile fitness goal to set at the start of a new year?

Dr. Lori: “I believe that a worthy fitness goal must primarily be intrinsically motivated—coming from within or behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, this motivation to engage in a behavior that comes from within the person as it is naturally rewarding. If the motivation is coming externally, it will not last, nor will there be quality workouts.

A worthy fitness or health goal must have the elements of creating success, and that begins with accepting where you are now and that you are worthy of having the health or body you desire. Next, always know your ‘why’—why you wanted health, weight loss, or a fit body in the first place, remember the emotion attached to it, and go back to it when things get tough. The next element is that of believing in yourself—that you have the power within you to create the desired goal. Next, you want to remember that your past actions, seeming ‘failures’, your disappointments, do not define who you are now. Lastly, I would say that implementing these elements will create a brand new mindset of perseverance, positivity, confidence, and growth that will help one get through even the most difficult of situations as it pertains to health and fitness.“

Question: What advice do you have for others as they are creating health/fitness goals and New Year’s Resolutions? What do you suggest for helping them stick to and succeed in their new goal?

Dr. Lori: “My best advice is to Be That Person. Be the person who does XYZ. Say to yourself, “I am the kind of person who works out 5 days a week” or, “I am the kind of person who chooses healthy foods at every meal.” When you make that deal with yourself, you follow through because you don’t want to let ‘yourself’ down. This works in many areas of life outside of health and fitness as well.”

After reading what Lori has to say, take a deeper look. Where are your strengths and weaknesses? And what are your intentions for goal setting? A healthy mind and a boost in self-confidence are often much better rewards for hard work than a cookie at the end of the day. This year, take the time to figure out what internal rewards you’re craving and set goals to obtain those sweet treats.

Up next is Aeshia DeVore Branch with Pretty Girls Sweat. Read her full interview as she encourages you to think small to achieve big! She describes a 7 step system to follow so you can determine what your goals are and how to achieve them.