The start of the year always seems like a good time to start implementing new and healthier habits. Unfortunately, the statistics of those that keep their ‘New Year resolutions’ are pretty poor.
I am not a fan of making New Year resolutions, simply because society tells us that the odds are stacked against us to stick to them beyond January. I also feel that they put too much pressure on us and have an all or nothing feel to them. If we make one mistake and veer of track slightly, we quit all together.
Sticking to something new, for a full year, without stumbling a few times is completely unrealistic in my opinion.
It takes time and energy to implement new habits, we can’t expect to be an overnight success.
I like to end each year by reflecting on what I feel I got right and where I have room for improvement. I don’t judge myself or beat myself up about anything that happened in the previous 12 months. This then helps me to get a clear idea of what I want to improve, or areas I’d like to work on myself moving forward. I am not just talking about my health and fitness here, I also like to reflect on things like my work / life balance, my achievements in my career, my responsibilities as a father and husband etc.
Once I have an idea of the things I want to leave behind, and the new habits I want to focus on implementing, I take some time to imagine what my day would look like if I did this. How will I do this? When will I do this? Why am I doing this? How will I feel if I do this?
One thing I would like to improve myself next year is being more present and creating more content for my Instagram. This year, when I have been busy with family commitments or travelling for work, I have tended to go quiet for long periods. I want to be more consistent.
I have asked myself the above questions.
How will I do this? I will make it a priority and block out time in my diary to get it done.
When will I do this? I will create content at least a couple of times a week, ideally when my kids are at school. I will share more of my day to day routines.
Why am I doing this? Because I like to give value to others and share my knowledge and passion regarding living a healthy life. I want to lead by example.
How will I feel if I do this? I will feel fulfilled and like I am making a difference in others health. It makes me happy to help others.
My advice would be to take one day at a time. One foot in front of the other. Aim to improve from the day before but don’t look too far ahead as that can be overwhelming.
I like to have big goals, broken down into smaller mini goals. Focus on the short term goals and if we get these right, in time they will get us to the big goal.
Take my dream of playing the premier league as an example. The day I got released from a league 2 club age 22 and was unemployed – I looked my wife in the eye and told her not to worry, I was going to play in the premier league one day. At that moment in time it was extremely unlikely and was a way out there goal, but I broke it down into mini goals that I needed to achieve in order to get there.
Some of my mini goals were to work on my finishing and score more goals, improve my fitness and running stats, prioritize my recovery, be a good team mate, improve my nutrition, work on my mindset and get into a healthy routine. I focused on all the little things I could control in the short term, and although it took another 6 years of hard work, I achieved my goal by focusing on the little wins. If I had a bad day, lost a game, or stayed up too late I didn’t beat myself up, I just moved on and focused on what I could get right that next day.
Not one of us is perfect, and I don’t believe we should strive for perfection, we should just aim to be better than we were the day before. Let’s not compare ourselves to other people. Let’s not beat ourselves up for where we sometimes fall short, but celebrate what we get right, no matter how small it may seem.
Lots of small steps in the right direction are always better than a couple of big leaps followed by falling off a cliff.
Let’s not put pressure on ourselves to keep New Year’s resolutions, but remember who we want to become and why. Then implement the changes we need to make in order to become that version of ourselves.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2023.
Much love, Marc
