It’s almost January 1, so I think I’m supposed to write a New Year’s Resolution blog right around now. At the very least, I should be telling you guys to start thinking about your fitness goals for 2016, and hunker down with a foolproof plan to make them stick this year. (Of course, involving my services as a trainer.)
To be honest, I am still in a holiday fog, my house is full of baked goods and candy, my kids are both sick and I’m barely even thinking about workouts. And I’m a fitness professional. So my guess is, if this is where I am on December 30, 2015, plenty of other moms are in the same place. Sounds like a brilliant time to start a major life transformation, doesn’t it?
The truth is, I actually like the idea of resolutions. I like sitting down and reflecting on what I’ve been doing and thinking about what I’d like to do better or differently. I like setting up a system of accountability. I like feeling like I have a fresh start.
But, I do not like doing any of this in the middle of the holiday season when I’m supposed to be drinking hot chocolate and watching bad movies.
There are lots of reasons why New Year’s Resolutions fail, but one of the biggest ones is that they are not realistic. People set vague goals or extreme goals and don’t have a good strategy to stay on track and follow through. I think part of the reason we’re so bad at resolution setting is that we are not in a good position to be thinking about this kind of stuff. And who can blame us?
Come mid-January, I might sit down and come up with a few solid goals— a few measurable, realistic things that I know I can do and that really mean a lot to me. Or, if my kids are sick and things are crazy, I’ll do it in February. I might do this again in the spring, and I definitely will do it in the fall, when school starts and I feel like I can get my act together. But the idea of creating and implementing my entire yearlong plan starting on January 1 is ludicrous to me.
Over these next couple of weeks, you will be hit hard with advertisements for products and services that promise to create a “new you.” Be prepared. Ask yourself, “Is this really something I would choose to do, at this time and to this extent—or is it maybe just another manmade marketing scheme? Am I really looking at my very best opportunity to create a ‘new me’?”
And maybe you are. But if you’re still transitioning out of your Christmas jammies, that’s quite alright, too.