Did you start the New Year off feeling refreshed, enthusiastic about 2018 and ready to take on your new habits? Maybe you were planning on taking more “me” time, or committed to start waking up at 6 AM to go to the gym. Maybe you were going to cut down on the amount of alcohol you consume, quit smoking, whatever it is… I hear ya.
And now here you are 3 weeks into the new year, and you haven’t really followed through with anything. I don’t know what’s worse, feeling bad that you’re still in the same place, or feeling bad about the fact that you can’t keep commitments to yourself.
Throughout the week I’m going to share the top 3 reasons why New Year’s Resolutions fail, and I’ll share simple tips and tricks to get back on the bandwagon for a successful 2018!
Reason #1: YOU’RE NOT TAKING BABY STEPS!
What happens when we try to make big changes overnight, is that thoughts of overwhelm begin coming in. Then come the thoughts of self-doubt, and we beat ourselves up because we aren’t following through with what we committed to. And finally, we give up and the cycle continues. Rather than trying to take a huge leap, my encouragement is to start SUPER small. Like baby infant steps.
Success Story…
I will share a story of an amazing client of mine who wanted to get in better shape and start exercising regularly. She really wanted to start running again, but couldn’t get herself to do it. In her mind, she felt like she had to run a certain amount of miles daily, like she had in the past. But the thought of having to get back to that place made her feel overwhelmed to the point where she didn’t even want to start. So instead of daily, I encouraged her to commit to running one day a week for 15 minutes. I’m pretty sure she looked at me like I was crazy when I said that. I know she was probably thinking, “that’s not enough to make any difference.” But she was willing to give it a try.
What happened? It felt so good to get out there and run that 15 minutes that she just kept going. Then she decided to do it again the next day, and then the next. Three months later and she was running daily, doing 5K’s, and even inspired her mom to start running too!
THIS is the power of baby steps!
So if you’re in a place where your resolutions are starting to fall behind, how can you start even smaller?
If you’d like support in answering this question, sign up for a free mini-session HERE and I’d be more than happy to help you out!
Lots of love,
Jamie
