Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from all of us at Northstar!
As we head into 2024, many of you are making your New Year's Resolutions. While these resolutions can be a great tool for motivation towards changing for the better with a blank slate, many fall into similar traps. Here's a few common ones, and some solutions to avoid them in 2024.
More often than not, we try to solve the world without any real plan to do so. "I want to lose 20lbs". That's great! How? In what time frame? What's your game plan to get there?
With too many undefined aspects, there's nothing holding you accountable to your process or results. Along with that, an entire year is wayyyy too long of a timeframe for a realistic goal. Things will change, life will get in the way. By March, you'll have forgotten what your resolution was. By October, you'll already be on to 2025. Instead, start with January. 1 month, 4 weeks, definable actions. That way your structure will be more solid and you'll have the motivation and intention to stick with it. As we get through January, what does February's action plan look like? While it's okay to have an overarching goal that may take an entire year, don't leave the timeframe for results so open-ended.
Another issue that we can have with the "New Year, New Me" mindset is that we hit the gas pedal too hard at the start. Jumping from 0-100 sounds like a good idea, but it usually results in failure within a few weeks/month or so. Workouts will become scary because your body is so beat up, diets will fall off because they are unrealistic, and injuries may derail your progress without proper programming. Instead, think of the new year like a road trip. Keep your speed steady, plan your route, enjoy the scenery, and be safe! One of the highest indicators we've found of success is enjoyment, so by pushing yourself too far and hating the workouts you'll do more detriment than good.
Finally, we want to tune our goals to what we really want. Goals like "lose 20lbs", "make more money", "get bigger biceps", don't often lead to success. This is because people choose them with external motivations (social pressure, external looks, etc.). It's not really what they value internally. Instead, think about the person you want to be in the new year. Do you want to lose your independence as you grow old, or do you want to enjoy life for as long as possible? Do you want to look better for your friends, or feel more confident in your own skin? Do you want to be that person that tires out their grandkids, or that can't keep up with them? Choose your goals wisely, because unless they truly matter to your values they won't last very long.
Finally, don't beat yourself off if you don't start off the new year 1000%. Success won't elude your grasp because you started on January 12 (or even July 12). Failure only happens when you quit on yourself. You got this! Happy New Year! Let's make 2024 one of the best yet!
