Don’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year.
Don’t vow to lose 10 pounds.
To start reading more when January comes around.
Eat healthier or go to the gym more.
Watch less TV each month or stop using social media.
Don’t insist on doing this, that, or the other thing “first thing next year”.
How many times have you gone into a new year saying you were going to make a change to your life? Then when January hits, you start off strong, but after a few days or weeks, you start to lose steam.
You start skipping the gym once or twice a week. Maybe you don’t pick up your book before bed because you’re too tired. You say “I’ll just watch a couple episodes to wind down after work.”
Eventually you stop doing whatever your resolution was all together.
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.
It’s not easy building a new habit or lifestyle or getting rid of an old, unhealthy one. It takes a lot of will power and effort.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive to foster healthier habits. To not work on learning new skills or hobbies. To not change our lives for the better.
I’m saying, we shouldn’t wait.
Why are we pushing everything off for months?
If you want to start doing something, start.
I think the reason so many people fall short of commiting to their resolutions and end up giving it up shortly after starting is because we throw ourselves into it full force.
There’s no build up or a preparation stage.
Like when someone wants to start exercising more and eating healthier. When January hits, they basically drop their entire old way of living and jump into this new one. They wake up an hour earlier to run or workout. Throw out all the junk food in their house and buy new healthier options. They focus so much on the end goal that they drive themselves crazy trying to get there. Eventually it’s too much for them and they go straight back to their old ways.
The change is far too drastic to work for the majority of people.
We are creatures of habit and we need to use that to our benefit.
We need to start small and work our way up to the result we want.
Think of the micro, not macro.
What’s one small change you can make right now to take that first step towards your goal?
Going back to the previous example, what’s something you can do immediately to become healthier?
You can go as simple as you’d like, but the key is for it to be simple.
Wake up and do 5 pushups. Choose one junk food you can easily live without and stop eating it. Make one healthy meal a week that has complex carbs, proteins, and fats.
Just start with something you know you can do.
Want to read at least 2 books a month? Start by reading for 15 minutes a day.
Want to stop mindlessly scrolling through social media? Turn off your notifications.
Whatever it is, you just have to start small. Once you feel like you’ve succeeded at the first step, move up to a second one.
Follow the process until you’re happy with where you’re at. But be sure to be happy about each step you’re working on, no matter how small it may seem. You’re choosing to improve yourself and you’re on the right path.
Goals for 2020
With 2020 just about to begin, I’m ready to make some changes to my own life. I believe there are many things I can do right now to improve my life and put me on the right path.
I’m trying things a little differently this year. I’ve always been someone who likes to try new things and see how it affects my life physically and mentally.
I have a few habits I want to pick up and also I few I want to drop, so for 2020, I’m trying something.
Each month, I’m focusing on one habit I want to break or build and I’m doing everything I can to succeed. Some will be easier to take small steps towards achieving, like I stated above, while others will be more of an immediate change.
I won’t go into too much detail about every habit and how I’m going to accomplish them. I’ll be writing updates throughout the whole experience and posting on my social media as well (except for the month I give up social media).
Some of the goals I’ll be working towards this year will be cutting down on alcohol consumption, reading more, meditating, watching less TV, and learning new hobbies.
I’m extremely excited for the journey this next year will be. I can’t wait to see the results at the end of the year.
I look forward to learning more about myself and the world around me and I can’t wait to share the entire experience with other people. My hope is that it’ll inspire others to do the same and make a change to their own life.
Thank you so much for reading this post! I hope you found it helpful and inspiring.
With that I’ll leave you with this:
Do whatever you can to achieve your goals. Think of everything in the micro and do the one thing you know you can do to put you on the right path. It doesn’t matter what it is.
Just start.
