2024 Fitness Reset: Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes

recording in progress. Hey and welcome to this fit mental fitness podcast today I'm talking about how to avoid the most common mistakes going into 2024. So how to keep your focus on your health and actually exceed your goals in 2024 So, in this episode I'm talking about the most common mistakes and how to actually avoid them. And a little bit about my personal story as I was planning on recently to focus really on getting stronger hand started actually following a program focusing on powerlifting and as I'm recording this episode yesterday, I was visiting in my cardiologist si there was a during COVID times I was diagnosed after having a COVID doing some liquid cardio. This I was diagnosed at my our ties enlarged and unfortunately now after two years, it happens enlarged even little bit more. So that made me think I was already aware of this. It's still nothing like to worry about too much or obviously it's a big concern. But it's basically something what you don't usually even know and I'm so happy that I did that test at some point or it was by accident. So they found it so now I can actually still impact that to avoid all kinds of possible things. What can happen in future so so the basically, what I need to be avoiding is heavy lifting and that is something what is really, really hard to accept at the moment, but I'm going to access my own plan according to this plan and that's still not going to quit resistance training, but it's going to access my plan. What is what makes sense as it should be avoiding kind of asymmetric exercises where you have to hold your breath so includes obviously heavy heavy weights, but that there is some form of resistance training. I obviously can still do. Without focusing it just means lowering rates, doing more repetitions, and just forgetting about hitting personal bests, but I say it's of turning 42 In soon so it's not the that have never been actually my goal anymore. So it's just an example of how you might need to access your goals as as we age, things are happening. You You know life is always there is always something what you never know what is going to happen and it just means that you need to add stress to your plan. So what I was doing earlier and would get me motivated, I will tell a little bit of background about my own training, how I like to do it, and then later on I will tell you how to actually avoid how you can avoid and start planning your goals for 2024. So I'm always for me personally at the moment I don't have any like kind of weight loss goals I have found kind of sustainable base how and simple habits how I can maintain my bodyweight and I'm focusing basically I have goals like I said, performance based goals like getting stronger, improving cardio and strength training. I love to use them like different phases so that I'm not trying to focus on everything at the same time because those goals like getting stronger losing fat, improving your endurance, even they are all great goals if you try to do them at the same time everything needs that they are so different goals that your body doesn't understand what you are actually going to tell us. They are different signals. So for example, if your goal is to improve your endurance and improve your strength, you the most beneficial ways not to try to do it and then everything is that if you focus for example, for a month, two months, three months for getting stronger the next two three months for improving your endurance and next two, three months for a fat loss. Then you there are very good chances that you are eating all those your goals. But when you are not focusing in like longer period of time when you are not focusing on everything trying to do kind of everything at the same time and this is not applying especially if you are brand new if you haven't been doing anything. It's possible to reach kind of everything at the same time as everything is new for your body. But the longer you are doing this, the more you have to pay attention about kind of periodization and focusing just in simple things or or different things each time so and it makes it for me personally it was it's mentally it's so much given so much more motivation, kind of that you are not doing the same thing all the time. So you change your goal goals consistently and then in a longer period of time. Now after doing this for around a year or two years, I'm I'm probably in a lot better place than I used to be when I was for example, when I was younger, I was playing ice hockey. I was kind of trying to do everything and kind of compensate with the volumes like working harder instead of working smarter and now with experience you can get so much more out of it by doing less when you just focus on the most important things and we're kind of smarter instead of trying to work harder and and when you set this your goals differently. It's it's the it has been a game changer for me and I bet it will be a game changer for you. So But then let's get into these most common mistakes. So number one is having a timeline. So So and I don't mean with the timeline that I need to for example, if your goal is to lose fat or lose weight, I need to lose weight by and you have some intense some deadline when you have to lose it. So even it's a good goal. I love to use it and for some people it works, but I would not recommend to set the timeline for your weight loss course because what what is going to happen if you are going to actually let's say that you your goal is to lose 20 pounds and there is a you still need to lose 10 pounds but you don't have too much time left. So you are going to use probably like unsustainable methods and even you reach that your ultimate goal within a timeline. There are very good chances that you are not going to maintain that your goal because those your actions were not sustainable. So don't set the timeline for your weight loss goal. And I mean, I mean with the timeline that you are putting kind of period of time that you are going to put a plan into place. So if it's going to be maybe eight weeks, maybe three months, maybe six months. And the reason why this is so important, because you have to have the kind of end in sight and something to work towards. Because otherwise if you don't have that kind of incline or deadline, there is a big chance that you are going to die forever, or you are going to be like that. What's the point of doing this if you don't have a deadline? It's great. The example is end of the year or Christmas like you know that it's coming. And you know, if you miss your Christmas preparation, you don't have boots or everything ready. It says that you can just postpone it. It's it's you can say that I do it in two months. And it's same thing with the end of the year like if you are intrapreneurial or in a work that you have a deadline for taxes or whatever, it's end of the year and those things have to be done before that. So you are likely to push forward and seeing that when it's done. It's kind of in line. It's there and it's more likely that you're going to actually take action. Or example this is a great example. I'm going to start in January 8, my eight week challenge where I'm going to create individual plans for everyone like we are talking about setting your personal goals like what is what actually makes sense for you in your individual situation and then I will create individual plan for you. So you are you have a action. You have a goal. You have a timeline. It's going to be eight weeks and you work towards that goal for those eight weeks. And then obviously, it's not going to be that after eight weeks that you are done you are you can just quit. The goal is obviously always that you keep working you have maybe you set the next goal you are working towards next goal for the next 812 weeks or whatever. And then this way you are more likely to stay actually consistent throughout the year and prioritize your own health. So this is this is just an example of what most people are doing like that they don't have a timeline or they don't. They have a goal like what is what is not action based and it's like some weight loss what is very common to have a weight loss goal that I need to lose weight 25 pounds until end of March. And that is not the best way to do it. Trust me. If you if you hopefully you get the point what I what I mean then mistake number two what I see often is that you don't sit you set your goals like Sister losing weight, and even this is a great losing weight even obviously, it's the ultimate goal, but it's not action based goal and you should be setting your goals by actions and those are those are like weight loss goals, even those that losing weight is a great goal to have. But if you if you it's not it's something what you can't impact on your daily actions. And because it doesn't matter, there will be always days that even you everything according your plan, you are doing everything you can but you are not losing weight because there might be several reasons for that. I'm not going to be too much deeper on those reasons but could be that you are new you are starting strength training, you have had some harder workout bits you have damaged your muscle tissues and you are actually your body to repair that damaged muscle tissue from your strength training or your hardware about your body needs to repair that muscle tissue and during that process. It holds temporarily more water in your muscles. So you are actually you're going to hold your body holds temporarily more water so you don't see the scale moving. Or you had a you had a like some high copper carb dinner night before you still were in a calorie deficit. But as a result, carbs are stored as a form of fuel in your body. And now that glue can every gram of glucose can needs to store three four grams of water so your scale weight is going up. Even you are in a calorie deficit you might be losing fat but you are gaining scale bait or you don't lose every single day. So there are just a few examples why you can't impact always your weight by your axis. And this is this is what I these action based goals. I like to keep them very simple and basic. For example, getting 10 to 15 minute walk, preparing your breakfast each day or making sure that you have protein shake or some kind of high protein snack middle of the day. Middle of today when you usually get hungry and and these kind of balls like all preparing your protein sources for the next day. So these are simple action based goals. What What are not that sexy? What you probably if you think that other goals like you know what most people are doing are cutting like that, you know you are cutting all your carbs or you are cutting all your sugars. So those are those are very common goals but I don't often for almost any people, I don't recommend setting that kind of action based goals because what what are those because they are simple. Those were the direction based goals should be simple. They should be repeatable. So if you can't repeat them over and over you, you are not going to be consistent. And that kind of thing. Like that's what I love to say that if you're you can whatever calls you are going to sit if you can't imagine to do it, at least three to five years from now. It's probably not going to be solution what's going to make you maintain your lost weight because you might be able to lose weight if you let's say you decide to cut all carbs or cut all supports. But if you can't imagine that I can live with that without sugars for the next three years. It's probably not going to be consistent. You're not going to be consistent and and you are not probably going to reach your goals or even you reach your goals you're not going to be able to maintain them. So this is why it's so unsexy, but don't pick too many goals like like those action based goals. Like I mentioned, I gave you examples. I will give you more examples, for example in my upcoming eight week challenge, but if you pick maximum life goals like it could be something simple one, goal two goals three or but not more than five because if you especially in the beginning like this is often what I used to do a mistake when I will say the electric story about when I was a new coach. And usually you can imagine if somebody is contacting me they want to kind of start training and then often they are very, very motivated that now it's time that something has happened and you find some motivation and when they come to me you know, they always people think that now I'm paying for coach or I'm getting accountability now it's time to get started. And I better use it as an advantage to get the most out of my money and this opportunity to work with a coach. So we start with the five workouts from we in a week, aiming to either speak deficit as possible, cutting everything out and then I was like in the beginning it was likely that oh yeah, that's that person is motivated and let's do it. They I was thinking like that, okay, when I'm doing I was seriously thinking that you know, we get the great transformation. What do you see all over internet that only eight weeks lost this match rate and amazing transformation before after pictures. And then obviously what happened was that I was happy to sit work out from for a person who didn't work out five, six times a week and first two weeks. She was doing everything perfectly but then suddenly, I just didn't hear anything any more from her. And then I was just in the beginning I was thinking that what is what is wrong with the person? Did she lose some motivation or, or why is this not sustainable to stick stick with the plan? Until I realized that I was the one who fucked this up. I should never ever let someone someone to start working out from zero to five, six times a week because obviously how you're going to feel you're going to be so sore that you can't walk you don't have any choice and to do this and then I understood that it was me who did a mistake. And now with the experience. I would say that if you have those three goals for example, with the training, I'd rather start something that what is not up to what you could be on your ideal day but what you can be sure that you can do in your worst day, or like that. It's kind of if I use scale from one to 10 that it's around eight or seven, that it feels like that it's a little challenge little boost for yourself, but not that it's going to be 10 out of 10 that everything has to go perfectly but then you know if something happens your boss is calling you that there is some work to finish and you have a deadline for that and you can't miss your you can't work out so you probably are how you're going to feel about yourself that you when you can't keep those promises for yourself. You are thinking that what is wrong with me I just can't do it. My life is crazy. So is that when you pick those calls that you can do in your worst days and they are that they feel kind of too easy, especially for the first month because then you are able to keep promises you make to yourself and you are able to exceed those goals. Then you feel so much better, so much more confident about yourself. And then after a month you can start adding more things if you still feel like it. But usually first month because ultimately what is the goal with these things like a cushy No, that consistency is the key for everything. So if you get just enough results, to keep motivated to have that kind of progress, what keeps you going. So what is the point doing more like push this is this fitness and health journey this is not a race, this is this is meant to be for life and sooner you understand it better you will be so then mistake number three and what is we talked about this action based actionable goals. So part number three is that since setting consistency based goals around your action based goals, so thing good thing it like, like I mentioned a little bit earlier about that consistency that it makes everything so it doesn't matter. If you are able to work out perfectly for a month and then next month when you can't do it perfectly. You don't do it at all because there is something happening in your life. And then you know you are waiting for the best time to get started over because now it doesn't make point it doesn't there's no point keep going when when everything is not perfect like those this is this is kind of mindset where I struggled myself to kind of all in or nothing but to get rid of it. It's just simply understanding that there is not a single person who is perfect they might look perfectly consistent or perfect in their East a country or or in social media. But trust me there is not a single person who is not struggling or is not having those moments when you don't feel like working out or I don't know anyone who is always always pressing it workouts and posting pictures. There is a old persons who I work that there is not single one who is telling that it's everyday it's easy. It's simple to do, because it honestly it's not. But when you said those kinds of actionable goals like so now you have when you have that timeline, if it's eight weeks, if it's three months, you have your action based goals like not more than five. Now it's time to set your consistency call. So for example, if you want to be 80% consistent with you're preparing your breakfast each day or hitting your three workouts in in a week or whatever if it's preparing your protein sources, whatever action based goal you have hit that's at 25 days of 21 in January. So if your goal is to prepare your breakfast, so it doesn't meet the need mean that you have to prepare your breakfast for 31 days. But if you want to get some kind of results and being able to say that I was consistent with my those goals, what I set for myself 2025 days so you can miss it still six days of 31 and you are still consistent enough to see results. And if you do more full, but at least that 80% consistency. So or if you want to be 80% consistent with your 10 minute walk or that those three workouts that would be you get you get done not all three workouts but you get 10 out of 12 workouts done. So this is these are just examples how to get consistency not perfection plan for your goal that so so this is this is what I usually tell that this is not easy. I'd say that kind of a reproach and consistency. It's kind of sweet spot where you don't have to be perfect because you understand that there is something happening in your life. But you are also not too inconsistent so you don't see progress. So this ad brochure and then this was something what I used in my membership, for example, in this month of December was just simply consistency call and picking those goals and tracking it because what you are tracking you are more likely to take action. So to keep it very simple. It's as the goes 10 December is often is a month for many, many people that we are kind of falling off from bandwagon and and we are not able to reach our goals or till or do those things what we promised to ourselves but when you are aiming for at pros and consistency, you still have those 25 days. So in Christmas for example in December, there were time there is time like you have you can have your freedom you can have your kind of you can allow yourself to enjoy also time with your family enjoy holidays, but you are still it's still possible to hit them and that's it 80 pros and consistency are needed even if it's 70% That's still okay for a month of December when it's for most people consistency is probably like 10 20% or or close to zero. So this is these are just the importance of consistency because when you are able to hit your goals consistently, it's only a matter of time when you are going to reach also your polls. So part number four is about tracking. So this is I mentioned it a little bit earlier, but this is a next point. Is that there is because why you should be tracking your things what you are actually doing because there is so much amount of research that will prove that if you write down your goals, you track them to day to day basis, your results are going to be skyrocketed. So you are going to it's it's amazing properties I can't remember now. What was there is how many percentages it's more like I think it was even like a 60% increased chances or or even more, which was 65 Whatever, but it's incredible. high amount of wattage would study so that when you actually write them down and track them like it's, I can use my personal example for my steps when I have my Watts where I see everyday my steps I see my bi weekly step goal and if I see a trend because I'm even I'm I'm kind of tracking it I'm not looking at every single day, but if I look month by month or week by week how many steps I have took or when I when we do in our membership coaching like steps challenges. Those are the weeks when people are more likely to hit those goals when they have actionable goal for a week and they are actually following it through and making sure that you know you have a deadline. Like this is why I love to use these kinds of challenges. In my membership and in coaching like weekly tendency is just the one thing what you are going to do so you don't have it's not that you know you have to do five different things, but one some weeks. It's for example, one simple exercise like doing planks or push ups or squats or whatever, and other weeks it's focusing on protein or some other nutritional habits after weeks. It's simply drinking enough water. Some weeks it's it's hitting your step goal. So and when you are tracking that goal, what do you make? It's it's it's you are just going to be more likely to actually exceed it. So this is why in my all my programs, we are doing them we are in a Facebook group. We are there like those people. What I have seen is that when you have when you are actually writing it down, you're telling it in public, you can there is a possibility to post even unknown without your name. So if you don't want to post publicly with that somebody else is seeing your name you can post it just but without any name that nobody knows who it is but it's the it's the way to keep yourself accountable and to keep others because it's so supportive group of people who are keeping you accountable and most most of all, you are keeping yourself accountable. So, again, so if you if you are not trying to do it perfectly, so. So you are aiming whatever your consistency calls are so if you are off one day, it doesn't. It doesn't matter that you have practice holding up it says that it's it's a normal thing to happen and you'd be get back in the next day and you are back on it and you still have a couple of those days what you can have, but the reads reads your calls, and but I highly recommend you must track them so what is getting tracked like it's the same thing like kind of thing if you think it like with your finances. If your goal is to save money and you are not tracking your what how much you are spending how much you are earning, there is a good chance that you will not reach your saving goals if you don't track them but if you track them you look where you are spending your money. How much you are getting in there is a lot more. There is a lot bigger chances that you are actually able to save and see what what is why it's happening that there is going more money out and coming in so it's exactly the same thing. With all these kinds of fitness goals that you don't you need to track them somehow. So whatever calls you are doing, like it could be just the simple calendar of the month and you put red X when you didn't reach your goal and you put green X or circle when you hit your goal. So this kind of consistency calendar or tracking calendar somehow what is helping you massively and those all those tools I have available in my all my coaching services so you don't need to worry about them how to actually do them and then if you are interested, but number five, so this is what I mentioned a little bit again, in the striking part is the mistake what most people have is that they don't have any accountability. So you need to have some kind of external accountability. Because if you are kind of just you you are going to do it for yourself. So for some people, they are very good at it. But for most people, you need to have somebody or even those people who think that I'm able to do it alone. But if you are really honest with yourself, how many times you are going to lie to yourself or how many times you are going to talk yourself out of it or maybe you are even beating yourself up too much when you are not perfect. So and that all is leading that you are going to quit. So this is this is what matters that somebody's like much more than you believe that when you have somebody who is keeping you accountable. And if you if you it could be that accountability, it would be obviously having some goats or some external like for example in my coaching group program accountability is in Facebook group. So there is people who are exactly in the same situation. And so they are kind of like us if you have for example, your spouse or partner is not very supportive with your goals. You are part of the group who are trying to reach kind of same goals or similar health goals and they have same struggles so when you know that you are not alone. You are there are many, many, many people who are having exactly the same struggles than you. So it's more likely to be connected and understanding also like when you can share your wins because what is the one of the biggest mistakes I see that most of the people they are very good at celebrating others. They are giving credit to other people. But then when they are actually themselves they are doing something like for example hitting your action based goals or workouts for consistently enough for a month. You are like to tap that's a normal thing what is expected to do, but if it's something what happened like it's the first time ever that you have stayed consistent for a whole month. It's time to celebrate for yourself and if you don't allow yourself if you don't celebrate your wins, it's it's you're going to make it so much harder for yourself. So think think it and also obviously if there is of course if there's some kind of struggles that you know everything just feels hard. You might be even sharing those that you can understand that everything is like us. If you look social media, there is almost like 90% of people they are posting only means when everything is good, but very few people who are sharing actually their struggles. What is really going on what is happening goes it's not always everything says the high fives and everything is going well or it's easy to get your steps in or workouts in or preparing your meals if you have you have some other priorities and life to live so. So this kind of extra accountability. That is that is a game changer for many people. And that it can be I know that it can be very scary. Like I wish for me my personal thing I wish. I wish for example posting in social media. I was really struggling, especially in the beginning like I couldn't talk I couldn't talk in front of camera. It was very scary for me. But then when I participated for programs, whoever other coaches and got that accountability there and so that I'm not alone, I'm there are so many people who are struggling with exactly the same problems. It got me so much more like in that headspace that I'm going to do it. I'm able to do it also if that person is able to do it and when you see then some kind of success stories or some struggle stories that how everything is like for me was so motivating when I saw like people who were exactly the same situation than me. And then just through consistency because if you think if I think like a social media, for example, obviously that's the place where most of the people like they come they are connecting you with somehow or they feel like that you are honest person or kind person who is giving their heart out to help you and you feel like that that person can actually help me to feel better and to make progress instead of just trying to get your credit card or money out. And when I saw that there were people in same situation than me and then they were true consistency as as in social media. For example. I was lucky in a couple years ago in Tiktok. But in within I have been posting there two, three years or even longer. Like I can't remember, I think over three years now almost every single day, and I have been lucky enough to have now 300,000 followers, but all those followers game or most of them game basically within one week from one or two posts. So it's just an example that that consistency if I quit just before that week because I was thinking that nothing is working. Same thing with Instagram happened a couple of weeks ago. I have been posting there a lot of but then nothing like really there is you don't see a lot of results. And then once you're one post out of nowhere, which was basically similar to everything else but I have been doing that 3 million views. I have 1000 new followers just from one post. And if I would say that in that day, I'm just not posting because you never know what is going to happen. But what I guarantee for you is that when you stay consistent, it will be matter of time before you reach your goals. And whatever your goals if it's your health goals, it might be like it almost always feels or I don't know, anyone who is telling that I'm not staying consistent, but I'm still reaching my goals like faster than I thought because uninsured is that most of us we work so hard we feel that we don't see enough results or we should be seeing faster results. And then out of nowhere it could be that Wow, holy shit I got results what I always wanted. It might took you longer than you would like but when you reach your goals, it doesn't matter how long it took. It doesn't matter. You look back you're proud of yourself that you were finally able to do it. And these kinds of things and struggles when you have that accountability group or or somebody who is keeping you doing those things. It's it's a life changer for those moments when you would normally quit and you wouldn't do it but the first one you there is something external what keeps you going What keeps you talking out of yourself from that quitting. You keep going one more day, not aiming for perfectly or if you fell off from Penn back when you are getting back on it. And that's all what matters because there is no timeline in this fitness journey. Because it literally is a matter of time before you reach your goals until you don't quit so this is this was episode for today. If you are interested, I will put it by registration for my upcoming challenge starts right after New Year. So it might not be open yet. When you listen to this. If it's open. There's a link in the show notes when it's open. I hope to see you inside within this challenge. You are like I said you are picking up one action based goal or two or three or whatever. And you have a plan. I ideally I often recommend for people to begin some kind of aesthetic goal or like strength based coal or burned out coal or something was and you might be working on towards fat loss at the same time. But that it's something we're following these principles that you have a timeline so in this sentence timeline is eight weeks you have a you have that action based call that if you are not sure I will help you to create actions based on what makes sense for you at this time. You are setting that consistency call based on those action based goals. And then you are tracking your progress. So you have my workout apps where you can track your workouts how much if you decide to follow for example, strength training program, you have exact exercises you can do them at home, at the gym wherever you want. I created the individual plan and you are you are tracking them you are seeing how much progress you are making you're going towards your goals. And then you have the accountability. It's part of Facebook group. I'm there hanging out with you guys and supporting you answering your questions and we will have a lot of fun. So I hope really hope to see you inside tennis go to link in the show notes to register on a waitlist so you are not missing out when it's going to be public. It's going to be early January, and then these talents are not able to take all people so first surface first and I hope to see you inside. So thank you for listening and talk to you soon.