We’re nearly 2 weeks into the New Year now; how are you doing with your SMART Resolutions? Are you on track? Can you remember whether you have done what you committed to do?

Lots of research supports the idea that if you keep track of what you do, you are more likely to do it. So if your goal is to walk briskly for 20 minutes at least 4 times per week, at the end of the month how will you know how you are doing? You won’t know unless you keep a log.
The log doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, I strongly recommend that you keep it as simple as possible so that you are more likely to keep it up to date. One way to do it is to just write on your calendar when you went for a walk, and how long it was. Here’s another example of something that could work:

EXERCISE LOG

Looking at an exercise log each week, and each month is a very powerful motivator for continuing the effort!

I have a long term struggle to increase the amount of fruit in my diet (for some reason, for me, it is hard to do). So my log has a column to keep track of when I ate fresh fruit. Believe me, after several days of that column being blank, or not having the number that I want, I recommit to the fresh fruit quest!

So make yourself a simple log, keep it in a convenient place, and see what a difference it can make for keeping your SMART Resolutions!

Here's Julia and me after hiking up for 1 hour and 45 minutes on the Burnout Trail