It's a new year, and for many people that means new goals, resolutions, fitness plans, diets, and a whole slew of other new things, changes, and even new lifestyles.
Sadly, as most of us know, these resolutions don't last much beyond the first few weeks of the year. Why? I was thinking about this question as the New Year rolled around.
2012, what would my resolutions be? Let me tell you what conclusion I came to, and how I came to it.
Saturday, January 7th, 2012, one week into the New Year, my wife and I decided to head up to the mountains to take our kids to play in the snow. Along the way, we noticed quite a few more people out running than was usual for a typical Saturday afternoon. That observation sparked a brief, but enlightening conversation.
You see, I am an avid runner. I love to run and got hooked on it at a very young age as my father would run and enter my brothers and I in the "tots trots." My wife, didn't grow up running, but took up running about a year ago and has been going strong ever since. We have both formed healthy lifestyle habits. We discussed the sad reality that many of the people we were seeing out running would probably not last beyond the first week of February. The conversation ended as we went out and played in the snow, but my mind still reflected on the reality of the matter.
Still pondering on our discussion, I went out for a run a couple days later and came to the following idea or realization:
Why set resolutions rather than form habits? If we form habits (good habits), then do we need to make New
Year's resolutions? (i.e. running - if it is a habit, I won't need to resolve to start running again next year, because I will still be running regularly.) So, instead of New Year's resolutions, let's form New Year's habits.
Why put off to tomorrow what I can accomplish today?
Why put off to tomorrow what I can accomplish today? All too often we have things we want to do, changes we want to make, lifestyles we want to live, but we postpone it to "tomorrow." But think about this, "tomorrow" never comes, it is always today. So why procrastinate? Don't make resolutions, form habits!
If you want to get fit, then begin exercising today. If you want to eat healthier, then change your diet today. Whatever you want to accomplish, start today by setting goals and forming habits, and resolve to never create new year's "resolutions" again, but to enact new year's habits instead. And take baby steps into it.
The purpose of this blog is to help you form those life changing habits by providing encouragement and community, tips and tricks, information and more to get you moving in the right direction, and to keep you staying in that direction. Good luck and Happy New day!
