The new year is finally here, we know 2020 feels as though it lasted a decade, but cheers to 2021! As we roll into the new year, New Year's resolutions are on many of our minds. Because most of us athletes tend to set a resolution around fitness, we thought it would be prudent to highlight the most common mistakes retired athletes make as we create goals and resolutions for 2021.

Here are 3 common mistakes that former athletes make when they are setting up their fitness New Year's resolutions.

Setting Extremely Lofty Goals

In regards to New Years Resolutions, both retired and current athletes typically aim high. We are overachievers and take great pride in setting big goals. It’s a quality that made us successful and continues to elevate us every day. But sometimes, especially in regards to fitness, starting small sets us up for bigger success.

Let’s begin this year with smaller fitness goals that we build upon as we progress. Let’s set goals that challenge us and are easily achievable, so we can build upon them.

One of the keys to being able to accomplish our goals is by taking a realistic look at how long a goal will take. Everyone is looking for a quick fix, as athletes we know that’s not how it works, look at our 20-year sports careers for reference. We know that true results take time, sometimes however we just need a little reminder that we are in fact still human.

So once we set our attainable goal where do we go from there?

That leads us to our next point…

Forgetting what progress looks like

Think back to those long wonderful sports careers that we had. If we had a graph would it be a straight line to the top, or would it look more like the graphs of the New York Stock Exchange? 

We will always encounter ups and downs as we reach for any new goal, remember to zoom out from time to time, especially if you feel like you are plateauing. Assess where you have been and use it as motivation to keep pushing forward, just as we did when things got tough. We assessed, changed our approach, and kept on pushing. 

This is where having someone else be part of your journey to recenter you and encourage you to zoom out can also be helpful, see mistake number 3.

Not Asking for help 

As athletes, we tend to be very proud people, which is a strength in most aspects of our lives. Sometimes after we graduate we forget to ask for help, as we want to do everything on our own. Let’s look back on our careers... think about how many people helped us along the way, family, coaches, teammates. The same should hold true to any goal we make, and it’s necessary to get help along the way. 

Now this could take many different forms perhaps it’s talking to a friend or partner about your goals and setting up ways you can hold each other accountable, maybe you could even hire a personal trainer. For no other reason than to have someone else come up with the plan so you don’t have to. Sometimes it can be easier to delegate tasks to someone else than having to do it yourself all the time. 

If you like the idea of a personal trainer but don’t love the associated cost, check out Forever Fit, a fitness program created for retired athletes by retired athletes, and you get a certified personal trainer as your teammate who was also a former collegiate athlete to help you easily accomplish your goals.

Whatever your fitness goals are for this new year remember to take it all in stride, we should be pretty good at that by now… I mean we made it through 2020. Remember to cut yourself some slack, adjust, and reach out for help when needed. You always have the Mpowher Athlete team ready to help! Let’s crush our goals in 2021!