I gave up the notion of New Year’s Resolutions in 1998. I remember the moment exactly. I was sitting in my teeny tiny bedroom on 85^th Street and Riverside Drive in New York City. I chose to spend New Year’s Eve alone because I wanted to reflect on the year and make my list of resolutions for the coming year.

I quickly realized that creating a list of “things” wasn’t working. For years I had been saying: “Get fit “ and “Find energy” and whoa, clearly something was NOT working because these two “things” were always on the list.

That was the moment that I tore up my list and decided to start focusing a new way.

Many years later I was able to achieve my best body ever at the age of 40 because I started focusing on the end goal. Every day I would visualize exactly what I wanted to achieve. In my mind I saw an image of myself strong, lean, energized…and happy. The sight of it (in my mind) immediately caused me to feel all of those things as if they were already happening. I truly felt excited and accomplished. Sure enough, several months later I reached a new level of fitness that was extraordinary for me.

I invite you to join me this year as I create my dreams and achievements for 2017. This year I am taking it to another level and have created what I call…

The #DailyStrength Map

Take a few minutes to sit down and complete this little exercise with me. If you do, you will have a nearly bulletproof handbook to achieving your health and fitness goals (and any other goals too!) in 2017. This is exactly how I achieve nearly everything in my life.

1. Grab a piece of paper and fold it into a trifold so that it opens into a landscape orientation with 3 columns from right to left.
2. Title the first, left-hand column “Success”. Then in that column identify 3-5 things you want to achieve. State them in the present tense: “I am strong and free from aches and pains” or, “I am at my goal body weight of 162 pounds.”
3. Title the right-hand column “Current” and write down the facts about each goal from the Success column. For example, if your goal #1 is “I am strong and free from aches and pains” you would write something in this column like “I feel weak and my knees hurt.” Or if you have a weight loss goal, this column would state what your current weight is.
4. Title the middle column “Road Blocks/Actions. Then look at each goal in the Current and Success column. In this middle column, write down what you believe are the roadblocks to you achieving your Success. You can also write down specific actions that are needed to get you from Current to Success. For example, you could write, “Regular strength workouts each week” as an action to resolving, “I feel weak and my knees hurt.”
5. Fold the right hand column over to face you and title it “Affirmations.” In this column write down any positive thought that helps you achieve each of your goals in the Success column. For example, you could write, “Strength training workouts make me feel really good and get me closer to being free of aches and pains.”
6. Fold the left-hand column over so that you now have a closed-up trifold with just one column facing you. Title this column #DailyStrength. Then, open up so that you can see your Success and Affirmations columns. Create a new sentence by combining each Success goal with its Affirmation by adding “because”. For example, “I am strong and free from aches and pains BECAUSE strength training workouts make me feel really good and get me closer to being free of aches and pains. Write this new combined sentence on the front page #DailyStrength.
7. Once you’ve done this for each goal, you now have a road map to achieving your goals in 2017! Every day, read through your 3-5 #DailyStrength statements and connect deeply with all of your other statements inside of the #DailyStrength Map.

This only takes a few minutes and it is worth every minute. Take 5 right now and do it!

Want to create your #DailyStrength Map with me!? Join me LIVE tomorrow on Facebook and Instagram at 4:00 PM EST for my BRAND NEW series Live with Holly! Tune in tomorrow and I will walk you through creating your very own #DailyStrength Map!!!

Click HERE to visit my Holly Perkins Fitness page on Facebook. Just click LIKE my page and you will receive a notification when we go LIVE at 4:00 PM EST every Wednesday!!!!

 If you missed last week’s very first Live with Holly episode, you can check it out HERE! 

 I would absolutely love to see you tomorrow! Bring your questions because I will be answering them at the end of every episode. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and questions on any health and fitness topic that you’re struggling with!

PS! I reserve exclusive content for the Women’s Strength Nation email update. If you want to receive more info that isn’t shared here on the blog, use the sign up form at the top right of this page to enter your first name and email address. Then stay tuned every other week for insights on becoming stronger inside and out.

Women’s Strength Nation is committed to improving the ratio of women to men strength training around the world. You can Join the Movement by sharing your thoughts and questions below. Your thoughts and ideas may help another woman’s journey. Please join the conversation and leave a comment below!

And lastly,

Today’s #Strengthspo

“Stars can’t shine without darkness.”

Stay strong, friend.