In January people all over the world make new year resolutions. The percentage of people that keeps these is likely vey low. There are, in my opinion two reasons for this. One is motivation which I have previously written about. But to quickly recap if we start out on a high and have lots of motivation we are unable to sustain that feeling forever and when it drops we lose not only the motivation but also the momentum we had. Those two seem to go hand in hand. You can have low motivation but if you start with eve the smallest of actions this creates momentum. As momentum builds you can bring back motivation. Since motivation is not always present consistency really is the key to long term success or achieving one’s goals.

The second reason we fail at our New Years resolution is because the moment we have one slip up we quit. We miss one gym session on a Wednesday morning and instead of reflecting on the reasons for this we allow ourselves to be derailed and next thing you know we miss Thursday and Friday too. Now we’ve screwed things up and we think to ourselves Fuck It. Might as well eat like crap on the weekend too. The next week comes and the wheels have come off completely and there goes all the hard work we had put in.

Instead of just quitting and giving up maybe we should take a look at our resolution or commitment and reevaluate it. I don’t mean change it to make it easier. I do mean adjust it if need be in order to stay on track. Let’s use the gym example where things are going good until you miss that one Wednesday. Why did you miss? Did you have a busy weekend, feeling run down and now here you are mid week and you are tired? Instead of tossing all your time as well as your new good habits down the drain couldn’t you just give yourself some grace, get the rest you need and keep moving forward?

Here is exactly a good point to take a look at what is working and what isn’t working. Did you choose a time that is difficult for you to get to the gym? Would another time work better? Does your commitment to fitness need to ONLY include the gym or could you be flexible when needed by going for a walk, doing an activity with your family or something on the weekend? Also consider that if fitness is a goal then wellness also needs to be a part of that so where is the balance. Saying your are going to the gym five days a week but then at the expense of being run down or getting sick isn’t exactly accomplishing any fitness goals either. So again, I am not suggesting to make the goal easier but rather make it more realistic or enjoyable or attainable.

Now here is a personal example. On my birthday I decided that I would write a blog post every day for one year. The only reason for not writing would be if I was sick or in a place where I had no internet. The next day I made my post and felt good. Then the next and so on….until one night came and it was very late and I was very tired. I went to bed. The next day I did two posts. Yesterday the same thing happened and dammit now that’s twice. I could be mad at myself and give up, saying this was a stupid idea as though it was the ideas fault and not my own. OR, I could say to myself “Hey, you’re writing too late. It’s a good goal and challenge to write daily but leaving it until bedtime is just too late”.

Bottom line the challenge I gave myself isn’t too hard. But I din’t know what writing everyday would feel like. Now that I have a few weeks under my belt and have started to develop this new habit I can see that the problem isn’t the task itself, the issue is the time in which I’ve been doing it. Currently its 10:30 pm so I’m proving my point. I won’t quit, but tomorrow I will readjust my sails and find a new time.

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence

~ Vince Lombardi