Making a Difference
Ok, so it’s that time of year when you make a New Year’s resolution and promise yourself, you’d “start in January” to improve your health? It’s a familiar cycle: the year begins, excitement is high, but without a clear plan, those short-term goals quickly lose momentum. Year after year, we find ourselves postponing meaningful change, telling ourselves we’ll do better next time. Instead of making a New Year’s resolution to reclaim your health or take your bucket list trip, simply make 2025 about not making anymore resolutions and simply do what you need to do to be great.
As we look back on the holiday season, it’s a month of indulgence with food, drink and other activities and for most after the season is over they vow to do better in the next year. Unfortunately most fall back into their life habits after the first 2 months of the year and the cycle repeats itself over and over again. This happens because your routine is actually what you’re doing during the holiday season for most of the year. Therefore, it’s hard to start a new routine if you haven’t changed your habits. If your habit is to wake up, go to work, come home, eat, drink and go to bed, it will be extremely difficult to suddenly wake up earlier, work out, diet, go to work, come home, diet and go to bed. Statistically, most will fail after 1 month.
Instead of waiting for the clean slate in January, simply start today by cutting back on some of your habits that are not helping you. For example, look at your eating habits. Examine whether those habits hurt or help you. If you love potato chips, read the ingredients and ask yourself whether the chip is helping you with nutrients your body needs? If the answer is no, then find a chip (you won’t) that will help you. Or simply replace the chip with something more nutritious such as dry roasted nuts, or a real potato sliced thin and baked or pan fried with olive oil and salt. In essence remove the processed bag chip for something that’s better for you. Apply that process with all your habits and you’ll soon discover better ways to help you live a better life. If you exercise 2 days/week and it’s walking that you do, maybe buy a weighted ruck vest or simply try and walk faster. Once you challenge a good habit you will end up doing more of it.
For me, I used to drink Coke a few days a week and 15 years ago decided I’d substitute Coke for seltzer water with orange or cranberry juice (⅔ seltzer, ⅓ juice). After the first year, I no longer drank coke and now simply drink unflavored seltzer or carbonated mineral water.
My ultimate point is to get you to think incrementally by asking is this good, bad or neutral for me? Health is the greatest gift you can give yourself, and it’s one that benefits every aspect of your life. For most going “cold turkey” doesn’t work, but applying these questions to everything you do will guide you in changing some of your habits. So when you do indulge, it will simply be a moment in time and not an everyday habit. Make 2025 your habit resolution!