I Hate Resolutions

It may seem surprising to hear this from a personal trainer, but I hate New Year's Resolutions.   Despise them.   All they do is set us up for failure.   Every year, for example, over the past three years I've resolved to get more sleep.   That never lasts two days.   I've considered resolving to get less sleep, just to see if the reversed effect of my resolutions is consistent.  

The big problem is that we never make modest, realistic and concretely measurable resolutions.   We like to make grandiose, sweeping statements about how much we're going to change—overnight.   One reason may be that we're making these commitments to lifestyle changes on a night when we tend to over-imbibe and stay up too late.   Imagine the kind of decisions our elected representatives would make if they did the same thing…ok scratch that example.   Anyhow, these conditions lead us to proclaim things like, “I'm going to spend two hours at the gym every night,” or “I'm going to lose that extra 30 pounds.”   Never mind that if you haven't been working out, your body isn't ready to handle the workload of two hour workouts daily, or that it took you 20 years to gain that extra 30 pounds, so it won't just melt away at your will.

Two months later, we must have walked the distance of the equator on a treadmill or feel like we could have built a pyramid with all the weight we've lifted, and the restricted diet we have ourselves on has us craving pancakes with extra butter and syrup.   Finally, it's ok to skip one day in the gym…we give in and eat one of the Krispy Kremes that Mildred brought to the office…and we opt to go to happy hour instead of pilates.   New Year's reso-what?

Pardon the cliché, but Rome wasn't built in a day.   No ambitious Caesar took on a small city-state and decided to establish the greatest empire in history.   Coming from a background in mental health, I've learned the value of “baby steps”.   Rome was built one road at a time, one conquest at a time.   Exercise habits begin with going to a group exercise class once a week, getting to know the regulars, coming to enjoy seeing them again every week and finding that they notice when you miss a week.   Then you might start going to a second class each week.   The social atmosphere of group exercise develops peer support, and even peer pressure to remain consistent and to keep up with the pace during class.   If you find that this alone isn't enough incentive to keep your routine, it may be worth considering working with a trainer.   Having an appointment that you've already paid for can be the greatest of all motivators.   It's also an acceptable reason why you need to leave work early when your colleagues are working late.   “I have an appointment,” sounds better than, “I'm going to the gym (while you guys work).”

You might still go to happy hour or enjoy a donut once in a while, but small, attainable resolutions don't have to wait until New Year's Eve.   You can make small goals at short intervals progressively as the cement dries on each new, healthy habit.

Making life changes doesn't happen in large, ambitious steps.   It develops in a long series of small, progressive steps.   As a Chinese proverb says, “Even a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step.”