It is one thing to have these resolutions and events and another thing to put them into effect, to operationalize what you have set out to do. It’s time to write out your goals for 2020. Play to your strengths, find your weaknesses and work to improve those weaknesses, figure out what makes you jump out of bed in the morning.
Before you get to setting your resolutions, your goals, your intentions for this fresh year, first write down a list of the big events that are coming in your life. It will help you navigate as you set your goals and how you plan to achieve these goals and work toward the big ‘things’ that are on your calendar.
I will leave the word resolutions for now, experts say they do not work but I still like to use the word (Graham, 2019; Weinschenk, 2016). Before you get into setting what the next year and decade might have in store for you, do not forget to reflect back on the last year and decade.
I ignored all of my own advice about rest. So now, I’m asking you to hold me accountable for taking a break. To be ok with not seeing the numbers in Strava. To be ok with being active for the sake of being active, not for the sake of training. To be ok with just doing nothing sometimes, because some times doing nothing is the best course of action.
Each summer I try to do a New Year’s resolution check-in to see where I’m at with the goals that I set. I usually try to add in some new goals. Last summer it was starting my day with gratitude, a routine I have continued, and this summer it was changing out my breakfast routine.
When I get stressed, I generally do not eat. When I snack, I do not always make the best choices. Most mornings, coffee is the first thing that hits my lips. I decided to improve my eating habits. I would buy food to help me make better choices.
This a great time to reflect on the first half of 2019, check in with your goals, and decide if it might be time to chase something different.
The cue is a trigger that usually tells you to indulge in a bad habit or, more positively, a way to start a new positive pattern that will result in a different outcome. The routine is what you do to create a new outcome in your life; it takes approximately three weeks for a new routine to become a part of your life. The reward is what you offer yourself once you have created a new routine.
According to Fiore “procrastination is a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.” I think we can all relate to that.
While I will falter, make mistakes, even throw a temper tantrum, being better is first apologizing, and then reflecting upon what I did to prevent it in the future. I will try to be noble, to be gracious both in victory and defeat, try to be ethical, and just work to be better.
