Remember those resolutions you made last month?
Me neither. I’m sure you woke up, hungover on January 1st, with visions of yourself one year from now…a changed person. “This year, things are going to be different!…”:
- I’m going to floss every day!
- I’m going to exercise 5 days a week!
- I’m going to eat better!
- I’m going to play the piano more often!
- I’m going to sleep more!
Here we are, 8 weeks after January 1st. So, how are those daily habits going? Which ones are you still on target with, and which ones have you already abandoned?
If you’re like most of the world, you’ve probably abandoned all of them! And you’re probably taking it personally, thinking things like:
- Ugh, I’ve failed again.
- What is wrong with me?
- Another year of broken promises.
Yeah, it sucks when you feel like you’ve let yourself down. Even worse, if you decided to make a grand declaration on January 1st on a blog or social media to your friends/family/coworkers, you probably feel like you let them down too.
But, you see, I only have one thing to say: “CONGRATULATIONS!”
Congratulations because from my perspective, you have simply found a method that does NOT work for you. Like any level-headed scientist, you do not get personally offended when your hypotheses don’t pan out. You analyze the data, and then pick a new hypothesis to test.
So, your previous hypothesis:
…did not work. Perfect!
Now, purely as part of your process, you can cross off “change everything about my entire life at once” as a method for you. Or maybe you tried to change just a few things, but didn’t put the right systems in place to set yourself up for success. Or didn’t understand habits. Or didn’t put your focus in the right place.
So, next time, change something. Maybe it’s a big thing, like only changing 1 thing instead of “all the things.” Or maybe it’s a small thing: try a cutting out junk food a little more slowly this time. As we say here on Nerd Fitness, we don’t care that you failed, or that your character died in battle. It happens!
We need you back in the game, and we need you to RESPAWN as quickly as possible. We don’t die. We respawn.
The faster you can cross methods that don’t work off the list, the faster you can try something new and see if that works.
Allow me to present a few alternative hypotheses:
- I’m going to change one thing today, and focus on that one thing for the next 30 days.
- Instead of starving myself and hating my existence, I’m going to focus on eating one better meal each day.
- Instead of running myself ragged on a treadmill like a gerbil, maybe I’ll try exercise that I actually enjoy instead?
- Instead of telling myself I’m going to floss EVERY day, maybe I’ll build the habit of just flossing ONE tooth every day. That’s it.
We all struggle when we try to make new changes. We stumble and bumble and fumble our way until we find the exact path that works for us.
Remember, life isn’t a sprint, or a marathon. It’s a Labyrinth (David Bowie not included).
Hell, it’s taken me seriously 12 years to finally find a sustainable path to consistent strength and muscle gains…and I DO THIS FOR A LIVING!
So stop beating yourself up, stop taking it personally, and most of all, stop sucking the same way each time. It’s not working! Remember, “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”
Get back in the game. Hit start, respawn, and rejoin us.
We’re waiting! Post your respawn message here in the Message Boards and get back after it!
Today is the first day of a new 6-week challenge, a perfect day to try out your new hypothesis of doing less but getting more accomplished.
Continue? 10…9….8…7…
-Steve
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