How many times have you tried to instil a New Year’s resolution?
Be honest……how long did it last?
And before you think I’m being judgemental, let me use my own experiences as an example.
Pretty much every year since I can remember I have told myself I am going to stop swearing, I am lucky if I last a week. ****!
Now, as an online coach I am always bombarded in January by potential clients asking me to help them get in shape for the new year.
And my answer may shock you, because it is often “No”.
Now this isn’t because I have an issue with their desire to transform, it is because there is an issue with what they attach that desire to.
You see, if they really wanted to transform their physiques and their confidence they would have acted sooner.
I am very selective about who I coach and I will only coach people that have a real, genuine drive to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, those people are coachable and achieve incredible results.
Someone who waits until the new year, is going to be someone who waits until Monday each week. “I’ll start again next week, next month, etc”
How many of us have messed up with our exercise or nutrition midweek and said “Well I’ve messed up now, might as well start again on Monday”.
That attitude is akin to the New Year’s attitude, except there is a hell of a long time between messing up in January and waiting until the following one to try again.
You see, if transforming your body, your habits, your mindset and your confidence was that important to you then you wouldn’t associate it only with one specific date.
Furthermore, what most people do is this… “I’m going to hit it hard from new year, so I’ll get it all out of my system in December”. They are completely oblivious to the fact that this attitude and behaviour will completely sabotage any chance they had of sustaining a successful resolution.
Binge eating, over drinking, avoiding exercise and not taking care of themselves through December means that their habits are so poor come January, that trying to flip 180 degrees to clean living and exercising is simply too much of a shock to the system and their body can’t handle it.
This is why most people’s resolutions don’t even last until the end of January.
Don’t believe me?
Go into your local gym in the first week of January – it will be PACKED (unless the local government has seen to it that gyms are closed, because they are where people go to get unhealthy, but that’s another story for another day).
Then go again in the final week of January, I’ll bet good money that it will be half as busy.
Sustainable transformations are done gradually
The reason being is that all those people that had grand ideas and intentions of starting with a “New Year, New Me” attitude, couldn’t actually handle the sharp shock on their body as they tried to change their behaviours across the board in one fell swoop.
Sustainable transformations are done gradually by addressing habits through knowledge, learning and implementation.
Well if your new behaviours are too much for your body to handle, you will rebel against yourself just the same, trust me. And it’s easier to give up when you’re not being held to account, which is another reason why most people who need a coach – never get one.Ever wanted to rebel against a teacher, coach or trainer?
You’ll be back on the couch, eating takeaways and drinking wine before the end of January, telling yourself “2022 will be my year!”… or you can start now.
Get after it
This article is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.
Photo by Polina Kovaleva
