“New Year, New Me.”
We’ve all been there, right?
Honestly, maybe this makes me unique as a coach, but I actually really like that mentality..
…when it’s followed by action.
BUT, there are a few things you have to keep in mind when setting your goals for the new year.
Let’s chat.
The new year is a very popular time of year to set goals, make plans to get healthy, and get rid of those nasty bad habits you’ve picked up the last few months or years. Many people start their diet, exercise routine, yoga class, and fruit smoothie obsession during this time of year.
Honestly, for the most part, I say GREAT! I think it’s fantastic to want to better yourself, and make yourself a healthier, happier, more capable person.
However, as you probably know, many people give up on their resolutions within 2-3 weeks of starting them. There’s a variety of reasons why, but usually it boils down to 3 main reasons;
Going 0-100 too quickly
No clear set goal
No accountability
Today, we’re going to be talking about #1.
Trying to do too much at one time, and going from 0-100% too quickly.
Like I said, I really like the mentality of trying to better yourself. I think it’s healthy, and when utilized properly, it can really lead to long term, sustainable growth both mentally, physically, and spiritually. However, there is a limit to this mindset.
Trying to add in too many unique (to you) habits, foods, routines, and schedules is a great way to start strong, and completely crash and burn with your new goals.
Here’s an example of what I mean.
Amanda is a 30 year old mom with a 2 year old child. She wants to get back into her health and fitness routine that she had prior to having her kiddo, but she’s been struggling the last year. She decides that come new years, she’s going to start going weight training every day, eating vegetables every meal, doing cardio every day, stretching every day, and making sure she reads at least one hour a day.
Those are all great goals right?
Absolutely.
However, after about a week of doing this, chances are she (and most other people) will get very overwhelmed. These are all great habits, absolutely. But for a busy parent, or anyone, this a LOT to add in at once, especially if it’s going from doing NONE of those things, to ALL of them all in one week.
You genuinely may have a good week or two of doing this, but once one thing starts to lag (you miss a workout or don’t have time to prep all your food) it’s very easy to go from 100% back to down to 0%.
So let’s look at Amanda’s goals she wrote down:
Weight train everyday
Eat vegetables every meal
Do cardio daily
Read one hour a day
Now, if she’s doing half of this right now, I would say this could possibly be an eventual “next step” in her progression (except for weight training every day, let’s not do that). But since we established that she’s starting at ground zero, let’s revise those goals, and see how this works for the next few weeks:
Weight train 3x weekly
Eat 2 servings of veggies every day
Do cardio 2x weekly
Read one hour a week total
Personally, I think this looks far better and more sustainable than her original plans. Honestly, depending on her and her lifestyle, we may need to start even simpler. And that’s COMPLETELY okay! Becoming a healthier and happier person isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. All of the people you see in the gym or on instagram didn’t start where they’re at right now. They had to build sustainable, long-term habits that they utilized on both day 1 and day 1000.
The message we’re trying to get across here is to set yourself up for success, by knowing who you are, and how you work best. We’re all built differently, and we all live different lives. You’re not “settling” by setting ‘smaller’ goals, you’re helping to build a foundation to get to those eventual larger goals. You don’t start building a house at the ceiling: you start from the ground, and work your way up.
And yes, some people may be able to go 0-100% with the snap of their fingers. There are those select few people who have the capability to just flick a switch in their brain and they are locked and loaded. On the flip side, some people work best going from 0-5% and establishing one “small” habit a week.
Guess what?
Both of those are completely fine. Small habits build large changes. You need to make sure you’re tailoring your goals to who YOU are as a person and what’s going to set yourself up for maximum success in 2022.
Thanks for reading! We’re here to help in any way we can. For all nutritional coaching, or workout programming, please email us at info@harbertshealth.com. We cannot wait to work with you and help you become the best version of yourself.
Brendan & Kendra
Harberts Health
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