If you get to the heart of the matter, New Year’s resolutions are all about one thing: Changing what’s negative in our lives for what’s positive.
We often tell stories about people who decide they’re determined to change their ways.
January is a good month for those in the fitness business and a bad time to be selling any of the various vices that so many of us pledge we can to do without.
Of course, most of these personal promises are doomed to fail. There’s more to adopting a new lifestyle than simply switching wall calendars.
Popular resolutions often involve our personal health, our relationships or our career. We tell ourselves we will eat less, sleep more and cut down on smoking, drinking and salty foods, that we will be more caring about others and spend less time with people who only seem to bring us down. We’ll get promoted or find a new job or go back to school.
These are all noble goals that help make early January such an optimistic time. They’re also all attainable if you can avoid the disappointment that can come when you’re focused solely on the short term.
Remember: there’s nothing wrong with aiming high as long as you don’t expect too much too soon.
Take for example those who decide to take up running as a way to improve their health. If you’ve been a couch potato chances are you won’t be running in any spring marathons.
If you listen to those who teach beginning runners, sometimes the best goal is to just get out even if that means more walking then running.
It takes time to develop new habits.
But once you do they can be tough to break, which is why you might as well choose the habits you really want.
Change will happen. On a personal level, the next step is always the first one you need to take to get a little closer to whatever goal you set.