If You've Already 'Failed' Your New Year's Resolutions, Try This

By Di Westaway | Chief Adventure Chick and Founder of Wild Women On Top

If you’ve had an indulgent January, join the club. It's super hard not to indulge when there’s so much to celebrate and so many mouth-watering treats within arms reach.

If you’ve done too much lounging and not enough bounding, don’t worry. It doesn't mean you're bad, or lazy, or undisciplined. It just means you’re human. 

But now the kids are back at school, the world is back at work and you’re back into the swing of things, you've got space and time to focus on your wellbeing. 

Research shows one of the best ways to become your fittest, healthiest self is to commit to a goal or challenge that’s so wild it forces you to change habits. Forty years in the health and fitness industry has shown me an active outdoor adventure with friends for charity works best for women.

The bigger and scarier your adventure challenge, the more likely it will be to shift old habits, particularly if you don’t like exercise, because changing behaviour is hard to do. 

A wild adventure can motor up your motivation to move more, eat better and rest every day. And it's super fun searching for an adventure that turns you on. If you don’t already have a wish list, Google it, talk to friends, and then pick one that really excites you. 

Once you’ve chosen your adventure, I recommend you go W.I.L.D.E.R:

1. Write your adventure date in your diary,  
2. Inform your family and Facebook friends of your plans, 
3. Lock it in with a booking and payment 
4. Diarise your training times with your buddy 
5. Excite your family and friends about what, when, where and why you’re doing it
6. Relish the opportunity to share your healthy habits with your community to inspire others

Once you’ve done this, you’ve tapped into your innate wanderlust. This means the motivation or desire to go hiking, riding, surfing, kayaking, walking, swimming, climbing or jogging three times a week, rain, hail or shine, while eating healthy food, getting eight hours sleep and making time for mindfulness and gratefulness, will come a whole lot easier. Plus, when you do it for charity, you don't feel guilty about taking time away from your family or work to fit in fitness. You'll become one of those ludicriously enthusisatic people that lazy people find annoying. And you'll love it. 

You’ll be inspired by your exciting goal, thrilled to catch up with your training buddy and motivated to do something towards your compelling goal every day. And you feel the benefits of mind, body and spirit in no time.   

There'll be no guilt, just goodness. No beating yourself up for overindulging, no punishing workouts, no stict diet. Just fitness, friendships, fundraising and foods that make you sparkle. 

Here’s a few more tips to get you going:

• Plan a sunrise hike with friends on Sunday morning to cleanse, refresh and get them excited to join your mission. 
• Get your partner on board once a fortnight to manage the kids and be home in time for brunch 
• Entice your kids or friends into weekend outdoor micro-adventures such as bike riding to a lookout, playing chasey in the local park, climbing trees, leaping bushes, playing hide and seek and sleeping out in the backyard.
• Ritualise your new daily habits of movement, healthy food and eight hours sleep with a tick chart on the fridge until they become automatic.
• Share your goals with your family and friends
• Don’t be tough on yourself when you overindulge. Just start every day with the same goal: move, nourish and rest. 

So, start now. Go W.I.L.D.E.R with your adventure and make this year your best one yet by connecting with your innate desire for wanderlust. It's never too late to change. 

If you're looking for an adventure to kick-start your wellbeing, check out our Wild Adventures or sign up for the 30km or 60km Coastrek. 

Do you want to be inspired and empowered to lead an adventurous life you love? Do you want to find the Wild Woman inside you and unleash her? You've come to the right place. Sign up for our newsletter to recieve great content like this weekly to your inbox, and join a global community of women leading adventurous lives they love. Join us.