With the turn of every new year, people always find a New Year’s resolution to incorporate into their life to adjust something that may need work or bettering.

Last month, motivation was high and people were eating healthier, going to the gym three times a week trying to achieve the number one New Year’s resolution: losing weight.

This is a great first step for anyone wanting to better their health and lifestyle by becoming more active and eating healthier; however, I think people tend to set themselves up for failure rather than success.

Yes, eating more veggies and running a bit more will result in a healthier lifestyle to an extent, but this new idea for someone’s lifestyle does not contain any indication of lasting.

Everyone gets tired of doing the same thing day in and day out with no end goal.

If the thing that you are doing does not have any drive or hope behind it, it turns into a road with a dead-end.

I have witnessed many people who want to incorporate fitness into their life and better their bodies, usually falling short by quitting their unreasonable and dull plan.

Who wants to eat a bland, nasty kale smoothie and run on the treadmill for thirty minutes every day for no finish line? That is a recipe for failure.

Most people I have noticed who are new to the gym have this newbie state of mind that they are not supposed to be there at all and apparently think everyone else thinks the same.

I remember when I began working out at the gym regularly in 2013; I possessed these same feelings that working out was not allowed for me.

I had thought that I did not belong in this iron jungle, and that becoming physically fit through weight training and cardio was absurd.

What was really going on was that I felt like I needed the other people’s acceptance to permit me being there.

I realized that my gym membership was mine and mine alone, that it was my key to a better life. I did not need anyone else’s permission to become the best me I could be physically.

Now, four years later, I see these newcomers at the gym and I see that they have fallen into this falsehood that shadows their every move.

They feel everyone is watching them, judging them, mocking their attendance.

The real underlying issue, being overweight or frail, is insecurity creating their own personal hell of the place.

My advice for those individuals who would like to escape this misconception is to exhibit confidence when in the gym.

Literally, pretend that you know what you are doing, and that this dreaded place is like any other place that you belong in.

Set a reasonable and achievable short term goal and stick to it.

Losing fifty pounds is an arbitrary amount and sounds very difficult to achieve.

However, setting a goal to lose three pounds this month is more achievable.

After completing this small goal, then move onto the next small goal, and in time you will have achieved so many.

Also, eliminate the negative aspects that you are supplying in your head and focus more on your goals.

Getting caught up in the false thoughts and opinions of everyone else in the gym will drive you to quit and keep you from achieving your goals.

You can become the better you that you have always wanted to be. The gym is just a place where people go to better themselves. Be a part of it.