First off, let me just start by saying that I am not trying to be a downer by bashing New Year’s Resolutions.
I DO see the value they bring and I know that they can be very helpful in giving us that “clean slate” feeling that we human beings crave.
My point in writing this article today is to make you aware of a unique, culturally conditioned tendency that in my view can be a double-edged sword.
The culturally conditioned tendency that I speak of is the tendency to see things as black and white.
And when it comes to goal setting this is more the rule than the exception.
Like I just mentioned, we crave the “clean slate” feeling of a New Year’s resolution or a “Monday” after a weekend where we indulged more than we cared to admit to ourselves.
Now don’t get me wrong, I do feel like the clean slate feeling is valuable in certain aspects, but I also know from personal experience that it can lead to some bad behavioral habits such as the following:
-Perfectionism
-Self-judgment when “failure” is experienced
-Compartmentalism of the bad variety…ie., I will start to take care of myself on this day and time…
-Extremisms that never have a positive ending
-Tendencies to engage in roller coaster behaviors such as dieting, contests, and quick fix solutions that rarely contribute to long-term lifestyle changes.
Every Day Is January 1st
What if instead we could adopt the mindset that we don’t need a sanctified or “pre-ordained” day that society says is appropriate for setting goals?
What if we could instead accept the fact that we are capable human beings that are able to draw a line in the sand at any given time?
Let’s say for example that it is a Wednesday and you feel like making a major, life changing goal. Should you wait for Monday? New Year’s perhaps?
This is where the illusion of New Years Resolutions comes in. We have the power in the moment to set whatever goal that we feel inspired to set at any given moment.
The simple fact of the matter is that when we say things like, “I will start on Monday”, what we are in effect saying is that we are dreading our goal and will have to white-knuckle ourselves through it.
It’s Time To Get Inspired!
What if instead we INSPIRED ourselves to actually want to take the steps to obtain our goals? We can do that by finding our inner “WHY”. Why do we actually want to change? What is the EMOTIONAL DRIVER behind your desire to change?
If you can find that WHY, you will find your inspiration, and if you are tempted to say that you don’t know what your why is, I would humbly assert that you have not taken the time to actually get in silence and LISTEN for what that powerful and emotional reason is.
Once you find your WHY and you put together a plan then by all means make your goal RIGHT NOW…this second!
There simply is no reason to wait regardless of the day of the year.
Sending you much love during this process!
Happy New Year!
P.S. If you would like help in the goal-setting process we can help with that! We very much enjoy helping our clients finding their WHY and then putting together a solid customized plan to help them go after it! If you would like to set up a consultation to make that happen they are FREE of charge and you can do so here: https://www.llfit.com/consultations/
Good stuff Griff. This should be called, “The Hill Syndrome”. I see this in my family regularly, with me being the culprit a lot of the time.
I will start eating healthy when [insert excuse].
I will start working out after [insert excuse].
I will change my diet as soon as [insert excuse].
In my case, putting off setting a goal is just an excuse that helps me justify continuing my bad habits for a little bit longer.
Starting January 1st, I will no longer do this ha ha!
Bring on Jan 1st! Ha,ha! Much love to ya brother!