January pressure
For a lot of us, a New Year is a chance to have a fresh start, to finally commit to tasks we’ve been putting off again and again; to make that New Year resolution. What might it be this year: to lose weight, to earn more money, to join a gym, to eat 100% clean?
January hasn’t even begun yet and I’ve already overhead a few New Year resolution conversations at the gym. The opener is usually as simple as “what’s your New Year resolution?” Followed up rather quickly by “I wonder how long people will last this year” and “people will have failed by day 6”.
To me resolutions just bring pressure. Pressure to become better, to finally make the change we promised ourselves we would for years, only to feel guilty when we don’t immediately succeed. We might go off the New Year plan on day 4 and decide to give up or just start again when the next “right time” comes around, whether it be the next Monday of a new week or the start of a new month.
The right time?
I find it bizarre that a Monday is the best time of the week to start something and that the New Year is somehow the best time of year to change and to do better.
In the run up to Christmas the gym goes quiet, people often making the most of the last few free weeks to do what they like and eat what they want. As if they need to have as much as they can before the year is up and they have to go back to being healthy. The closer to Christmas we get the more we promise ourselves that this New Year will be THE year.
In reality, the only thing that changes come midnight on NYE is the date. Life is always busy and there is never a perfect time to start.
Set goals NOT resolutions
Instead of making New Year resolutions, why not set some New Year goals. Make them realistic, with smaller measurable steps that will actually help bring you success.
Goals are more actionable than a resolution. Instead of promising to lose weight this year, plan out how you’re going to do it! Give yourself a goal to go for a walk three times a week for a month before joining a gym. Get as specific as you can with the smaller steps. When they’re manageable and realistic you’re much more likely to accomplish them.
It’s so easy to lose focus when a resolution is too broad, to feel disappointed when the end seems so far and out of reach, to feel guilty when you take a step backwards.
The path to what you want is never a straight one, there will be ups and downs along the way but unlike a resolution whereby you miss one session and throw the towel in on day 6, with a goal you can get back on track and continue to move in closer, step by step.
If you need some more ideas on goal setting, have a read of this previous blog!
