How's That New Year's Resolution Going?

Happy New Year!

Yes, we’re a little over two weeks into 2023, and yes, a “Happy New Year” greeting is probably past its expiration date at this point. But a new year is how you look at it.

The new year always seems like a good time to make big changes. The holidays don’t often lend to the healthiest of habits to end the year. After spending 11 days in Philly for Christmas and catching up with a bunch of friends and family, knocking down a bunch of beers and swapping out green smoothies and kale salads for Italian hoagies and roast beef sandwiches (Ye Olde Ale House in Lafayette Hill - totally worth it…), I know I was ready to refocus when I woke up on New Year’s Day and set some of those resolutions everyone talks about at the gym this time of year. It’s a chance to get a fresh start, right?

(Totally random thought - How much does it suck the new year starts when days are the shortest and coldest? As a diehard, lifelong skier, I love the winter, but it's not the best climate to start rejuvenating yourself. Maybe it's to test our resilience? But a sunny spring day would be nice, wouldn't it?? Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled program...)

Now there’s literally nothing wrong with setting a New Year’s Resolution. If a New Year’s Resolution gets you excited and inspires you to make some healthy, positive changes in your life, fuck yeah! Go for it! Who gives a damn if some people say they don’t work or only last until the calendar flips to February.

Most people have great intentions when they start their resolutions. But results don’t come from good intentions. Resolutions fail for a couple reasons and one big reason is lack of consistency (which is usually the result of poor planning). The boring, mundane, day-in/day-out consistency of doing the little things right to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.

If you want to be a successful writer, you need to write every day.

If you want to be a successful musician, you need to play music every day.

If you want to be a successful athlete, you need to train every day.

And if you want to improve your health or lose weight, you need to do healthy things every day - eating clean, moving your body, managing your stress, getting quality sleep, drinking water, being thoughtful about the thoughts and ideas you let into your mind.

It’s building and sticking to new routines and habits. It’s keeping a positive mindset. (I know from personal experience that negative self-talk can be self-defeating). It’s holding yourself accountable. It’s staying consistent.

Now this is NOT about perfection. Perfection is a myth and should never be a goal. There’s no such thing as a perfect diet or a perfect exercise regimen or a perfect partner or a perfect job (well, except maybe retirement, which my dad reminds me all the time how awesome it is…).

Where people often fail is they don’t see perfect results in a week or a month thinking that new resolution actually is unattainable. It’s ok (and actually encouraged) to take a day off from exercising. It’s ok to have that cheat meal. It’s ok to go grab some beers. It’s ok to not be perfect. It’s ok to celebrate, have fun and enjoy life.

“A real sign of progress is when we no longer punish ourselves for our imperfections.” - Yung Pueblo

But quitting on your goals is punishing yourself for being imperfect.

I get that it can be real damn hard to break out of old but comfortable habits. I caught myself just last week falling back into some bad habits that led to shitty, unproductive mornings. And yeah, I was initially hard on myself because of it. But then I took a step back, forgave myself and thought through how to hold myself accountable to stick to a better routine.

If you feel yourself in a funk or things just don’t feel right, if things aren’t going exactly as you hoped or thought, that’s ok too. Forgive yourself. Forgive your past mistakes. Realize everybody makes mistakes along the way at some point. Take a step back, reevaluate, course correct or create a new plan to get to where you want to go.

January 1st isn’t the only day of the year to reset and establish goals or habits to work on. Literally, every sunrise is a chance to start fresh.

Think of it this way: We often don’t feel the difference when one day is one degree warmer than the previous day. From one day to the next, you would barely notice a temperature change. But after 50 days, 80 degrees is a helluva lot warmer than 30 degrees.

Your goals and resolutions are similar. You’re not going to feel a difference from one day to the next. But after 50 or 100 or 180 days of consistently doing the little things right, you’ll look back and say, ‘Holy shit…Look how far I came.” "Look how much weight I lost." “Look how much more fit I am.” “Damn I feel good.”

One way to stay focused is to celebrate milestones along the way. If your goal is to lose 30 pounds, figure out a way to reward yourself when you get to 10 pounds. Go out to that nice restaurant or go away for the weekend. Do it again at 20 pounds.

So, if necessary, start a new year whenever you need to. Set a January 20th Resolution. Or a May 4th Resolution. Or an August 24th Resolution. Or an October 16th Resolution. It’s far better to course correct than to quit on those beautiful, healthy goals and on yourself.

Welcome to 2023, and the year of the boring, mundane, little things that will change your life for the better.

If you need help with your goals, or need someone to hold you accountable, I'm always happy to chat.

"Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time." - John C. Maxwell.