All the New Shiny Things. . . . If you are like me, each day you open your email inbox you see it full of offers for new diets, new programs and new New Year challenges, resets, detoxes, and all the things to make you better in this new decade. Of course, since it is January, most focus on weight loss. I get it. This is the time of the year for those in the health and fitness space to promote, to grab you, and to use their business to help those looking for a fresh start.
I’ve absolutely done the same. I’ve offered programs, online and live, I’ve set up challenges and promoted my own reset methods to start the year. I’ve also done my fair share of filling my shopping cart to try a new routine, diets and regimens. It’s what we do! We can’t help it!
However, this go round, I’d like us to all go about this a little differently. If you are still “shopping”, a little overwhelmed by so many different methods offered to help you meet your goals, and have your best year, or even if you have already committed, I’d ask you to think a little bit more this time.
Be a little wiser. Look at this new year and new way to change things in a bigger, better way. Whatever it is, a 4 week, 6 week, or even 8 week commitment you are making, really consider how you will make it last. Will you? Statistics state that 94% of all new year resolutions are out the window after only two weeks. Only 2 weeks friends! That’s just two Mondays!
Let’s look at it differently this year. Will whatever it is push you to have your very own healthy lifestyle? Because that’s the end goal, right? If you are on a very restricted diet, you know it’s a diet and not meant to last. If you have sworn up and down that you will get to the gym 6 days a week (and you previously hadn’t been through the doors since 1989) is this realistic? Maybe it’s not a diet or fitness routine you are trying to change. Maybe you have committed to get up at 4:30 am each day to work on a side project. I’ll give you the biggest high five and cheer you on. However, I still want you to think about this goal and how to best make it part of your lifestyle.
Let’s all consider the end goal. How does your new program or routine make you feel? Take the time on the front end to consider and plan how you want to feel – physically, mentally and emotionally. Write that down along with whatever goals and intentions you have set for yourself for 2020. Chances are, if your new program does not line up with how you want to feel, it will not become part of your lifestyle.
If that is the case, I’m not at all saying throw in the towel. This isn’t your excuse to stop and think you have wasted your money if you’ve invested in a paid program! Make it yours. Tweak it to make sure you are taking the best parts to implement into your life. Because it is your life. Forget being perfect or dotting every single i or doing what everyone else is doing. What I’m doing or your neighbor or your co-worker or that girl on your tennis team does not matter. Take the time now to learn about yourself, your life and your body. What you learn now on the front end will help you as you flow into this new year. Maybe you don’t need to get to the gym 6 days a week every single week to feel your best. Maybe 4 days is more manageable with your schedule and will become part of your habit. Maybe getting rid of the sodas and drinking water is the takeaway from your new diet that will be sustainable and become part of your lifestyle. What can you do to lay the foundation for real change that will last and become part of who you are and what you do on a regular basis? Because that’s where the actual change happens. How you show up and what you do daily over the new three hundred plus days is what really count.
If you are wondering about what I may be up to, personally, I’ve tried to stay away from all the “new things” out there – all the new shiny objects that promise all the new things. I know myself and how I want to feel. Sure I have health goals and well- being goals. So, I’m taking the time to make sure what changes I’m making and tweaking will make me feel the way I want to in the coming year. I like getting back to the Whole30 in January, simply because it focuses on getting more vegetables in my body, and foods that make me feel good. I confess I don’t use it as a punishing 30 days as I will not be perfect. For me, it’s a great way to recoup my healthy habits that sometimes get lost in the shuffle over the holidays. I’m also following a free challenge Mel Robbins has going at #BestDecadeEver.
These are not so big or stringent or extreme that I set up to fail. I want to take nuggets from each that will add to what I currently do that makes me feel healthy, in a holistic way. I have always promoted a non-diet lifestyle. In the same way, I am promoting adding or subtracting that will not have an “end date” but will naturally flow into your lifestyle and create the feeling you want.
This is your year. You get to decide how you want to feel. I hope you take that into consideration as you go into this new year. If you want to feel differently then let’s be a little wiser this time. Let’s approach any changes, whether big or small, with no end date in sight and in a way that will flow into your lifestyle.
Live Well!
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