Wow!

January is almost over.

If you've made New Year's fitness goals, you're likely in one of two camps.

The "CRUSHING IT" camp, or the..."DANG IT, I FAILED" camp.

As I look over my New Year’s fitness goals, I see some that are going pretty great, some that have been bent a little, and some I completely failed at.

I'm sure I'm not alone in the failure category, so I started thinking...

Hmmm...Why is it so hard to keep a resolution?  I mean, we obviously WANT to change a behavior.  If we want it so bad, it should be easy, right?

Well, wrong.

Unfortunately, New Year’s fitness goals are not easy to hang onto. And I think I know one of the reasons why.

I am a goal oriented person.  I love to shoot for the moon.  I love to dream big. I love a good challenge, and I thrive under self-imposed regulations.

If something is going wrong, I immediately start making rules (a.k.a resolutions) to fix the problem. 

Spending too much time on my phone? 

New rule: I have to keep it plugged in when I'm at my house. 

Not getting enough exercise? 

New rule: I have to get AT LEAST ten minutes per day, no matter what.

...etc.

So here I am, living my life, and doing my very best.  I take corrective action constantly, and then when January 1st rolls around, I make an entire list of things to improve when my willpower is already operating at 98% - 100% capacity.

Not a great recipe for success.

I think that's why a lot of resolution makers fall short of their goals.  They're likely the type of people who set goals for themselves all the time anyway.

If this sounds like you, the temptation is to feel like a failure when you fall short of your New Year's resolutions, when really you should be proud of all the striving you do 365 days per year.

If you "failed" at keeping your New Year’s fitness goals, just do what you always do. Pick yourself up, diagnose what went wrong, and set a new goal (a.k.a. resolution) and get after it!

In short, give yourself some grace. 

You were likely on the right track BEFORE you made your list of resolutions, and you'll likely stay on the right track AFTER you've made them, even if you have a derailment here, and there.

If you've read this far, you're probably someone who cares an awful lot, and tries REALLY hard at life.  Because you try so hard, you probably don't take time to realize that you're doing a really good job.  Hang out in that realization for a minute or two today.

High fives and side hugs...You've got this!

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