Big Goals, Small Steps

It’s that time of year again when everyone is advertising their new year’s resolution. With phrases such as ‘new year, new me’ or ‘big things coming this year’ or ‘this is my year’ it seems that the new year is almost like a switch that will improve a whole life in every aspect just by the change in date.

I have seen some anti-resolution posts and often find that it’s just a trendy thing to do, but I believe the new year is the calendar giving us a definitive end to one year and a start of a new one. It is, therefore, I find a good day as any to reflect on my previous year and see where I need to make the changes in the new year. Although, any day of the year really is a good day to set a positive resolution, and it doesn’t have to be something set aside for a new year.

What I do see, though, is that a lot of resolutions don’t last very long and at the end of the year again, we see the same posts about the coming year, and what seems like an endless cycle.

The question I tend to ask myself when thinking about a resolution both in fitness and in life is why I’m setting this resolution. It has to be something that I want in my life, for me, important to me and not just something because others are doing it. What I know for sure is that if I want things to change in my life, I have to make the changes that will bring them about.

If you do make a resolution, keep going. Set your goals, and how you’re going to achieve them. Don’t just decide you are going to start going to the gym every day if you’ve only been twice in the entire previous year. Make it achievable. You don’t have to go every day to achieve your goals. Don’t over commit as it can be detrimental (as I’ve written in a previous post). Set big goals, but it’s the small steps that you take that will enable you to achieve them.

Be patient, be strong. Most importantly, do it for yourself and not because everyone around you is doing it.