How to Accomplish Your New Year's Resolutions
Happy February!
So, here we are, one month in to 2022. How you feeling? If you're like me, you use the New Year to reassess where you are in your life and maybe make some changes to get yourself back on track after the holidays.
In fact, if you're like me, you've tried to create 72 different goals in the nine different
dimensions of human wellness, but by the end of the day you see a bowl of lifesavers and think "No one would notice if I just shoveled them all into my mouth at once" like something out of a cartoon.
I am a person of the "grand gesture", and often try to bite off more than I can chew, whether it's working on the business, working on my relationships, or working on myself. Burnout - even on things that are good for you - is a real thing.
So, if you're reaching the point of New Year's Dissolution, here are a few reminders on how to keep on keeping on.
1. Set MEASURABLE, OBTAINABLE Goals
Measurable is a tricky one - it can be as loose as "I want to fit better in my pants", or "I want my workouts to feel better" or "I want to have more restful sleep". Those all do have an outcome in mind, but they are pretty subjective and don't set a reasonable time frame. Let's drop back to some Sesame Street and review the ABCDs of goal writing:
A - Audience - Who's gonna do this thing?
B - Behavior - What is the audience going to accomplish
C - Condition - Under what structure (time frame, typically)
D - Degree - How far along until you know you've reached the goal? Where are you placing the finish line?
Now, "I want to have more restful sleep" becomes:
I (audience) will turn off my screens and start pre-sleep routine (behavior) at 9 PM (condition) 5 to 7 days per week for 6 weeks (degree).
I (audience) will not consume alcohol (behavior) after 7 PM (condition) during the work / school week (degree).
See the difference? You are setting goals that help you create the subjective experience (more restful sleep) that are also obtainable (even if you sleep like garbage for a few weeks, you know you're engaging in behaviors that are likely to help benefit you). It helps you set up an accountability system to yourself, and makes you focus on what is a REALISTIC and therefore OBTAINABLE time frame. You can do the goals above and win starting tomorrow, even if it takes you a month or more to get your sleep cycle in rhythm.
2. Don't Forget to Cross Train
Not going too intensely into your New Year’s workout goals, are you? (hint: you probably are)
Make a plan and stick to it!
If you are “Doubling your miles”, “working out everyday” trying “hard 75”; taking up gymnastics / crossfit / ultrarunning / mountain somersaulting / off-road one-wheeling / Jiu Jitsu / backcountry skiing ninja warrior off the couch, you need to make sure you're taking care of the warm up, cool down, recovery, and supplemental activities to make sure the wheels don't fall off.
Except for mountain somersaulting. It's really a total package exercise.
3. Listen to Your Body!
This is the most important. Pushing through discomfort is one of the joys of exercise - for fun or competition. Finding where your discomfort is and riding the edge brings a sense of meaning to our movements, so to speak. Whether it's gardening or ultra-running or step aerobics, we make ourselves better by being a little uncomfortable.
But, you need to spend a moment doing a basic inventory of how is my body feeling. Even using the info from your technology to help point you in the right direction on things like sleep, hydration, exercise dosage, stress, work ergonomics, food choices, and more is helpful! If you can listen and track it, you will be amazed at how much progress you can make in 2022.
My goals?
Finishing a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim with friends at the Grand Canyon this fall.
Doing consistent weight training with my son 2 days a week.
Playing in the Asheville ultimate frisbee league this summer after a long hiatus and not getting injured.
Working on some weight loss, cleaning up my hydration habits, doing some training drills, and improving my sleep hygiene.
What are your goals? If you want some help with accountability, post your goals in the comments below, or just email us, and count us in your cheerleading section!
Want help writing goals? We'd love to help. Email us at info@antifragilept.com or comment below.
I hope you make 2022 your best year. Every year there are things that, if you let them, will take your joy, your motivation, and your belief that you can be a little better than you were before. We're here to help you work against it. Here's to an amazing 2022! Now go do the work to make it happen.
Comments