New Year’s Resolutions

Stop Making Them

Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• Myths
• Success Plan
• Actions
• Merchandise for Success

Intro

Here we are again, another new year looming around the corner and the pressure of coming up with a New Year’s Resolution. Is this you? Are you the person who always plans a New Year’s Resolution? How have they worked out for you in the past? Have you been successful seeing your New Year’s Resolution come to fruition? I bet for most people this is either partially true or not true at all. Most often they last a week or two, if that. There is a small percentage of the population where they actually stick with their New Year’s resolution, but these are rare.

Why? Because New Year’s Resolutions are inherently designed for failure. They’re hyped up by all social media platforms and have been for decades. It’s predicated on the emotion of a new year, so you need a new you. The truth is you get a chance to start a “new” anything every single day of the year, not just on New Year’s Resolution day, day 1 of the New year.

Myths

I’ll start with the fitness industry myth, because this is the biggest one next to weight loss food programs, which I’ve lumped them together for this blog post.

The myth that the fitness industry sells everyone is based on focusing their marketing strategy on emotions of people who are normally challenged with weight issues. . January is Christmas for the fitness industry. The know every year many people will make a New Year’s Resolution to join a gym, get fit, lose weight, build muscle and this emotion along with the the pressure to change is the fitness industry’s honey lure. The high emotion of “this time I’m going to make it work’ mentality drives sales exponentially. The hype of the surroundings in the gym with all the new members joining sitting at the desks at the same time has its own energy. The hype of all the advertisements on all media platforms plastered everywhere in your scroll, on the radio and television. The marketing is to bombard the consumer with these trends to entice them to take action, because they’ve overindulged. Weight loss food products, drinks, shakes, it’s all based on hooking you emotionally to the new “year” date on the calendar and getting you to buy or sign up.

There is also a level of guilt associated with coming off the heals of a few months of celebrations in America. Starting with Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November and the all the December Holidays, Christmas and New Year’s. People tend to eat and drink more than normal during these three months because they’re socializing around themed holidays and traditions. This guilt drives people to sometimes overindulge with the mentality “I’ll take care of this in January with my New Year’s Resolution.”

The truth of the matter is it takes 40 consistent days to build a new habit and that’s why most gym’s are packed in January and back to normal by Valentine’s Day. The myth is founded on your guaranteed failure. Therefore, the fitness industry has cashed in on your membership, your obligation, your auto draft when you were hyped up with New Year’s Resolution plans, but once the hype was over and people are back to their day to day, they fall right back to their normal routines.

Staying outside of your comfort zone is a challenge all by itself. So setting yourself up with a new routine, let a lone a fitness routine that is developed over a long period of time which also requires discipline and can make you feel sore initially, is a big ask for most sedentary people. Add the new eating plan on top of the fitness plan and this most often is the perfect recipe for failure. Why? It’s too much to change at once.

The marketing for gyms and food products usually has a celebrity or bodybuilder as their model. This is to trick the consumer into thinking they’re just like the average person. The truth is they have personal trainers, chefs, physicians and supplements at their disposal 24/7. They are getting paid to be the face of that product being sold.

New Year’s resolutions most often include a fitness goal and most often that equates to joining a gym in some capacity. Once the fitness organization signs you up, places your account on auto draft, you’re on your own. Truly. This is what most people don’t understand.

Most people who are new to the fitness world genuinely think the “salesperson” who signed them up will be their accountability partner, but in actuality, they’re solely sales people. I’d venture to guess most have zero interest in your success and only their numbers for how many memberships they “closed”. Sad hard truth. For the consumer they signed up because they emotionally connected with that sales person who painted a picture of what success could look like. Hence, by way of a tour of the facility of all the equipment and amenities offered. In reality, that’s their job and primary responsibility. “Get Sales” means sign up members.

Another myth is some people partner up with gym buddies. Thinking okay this time it’s going to work because I’m going with …, but the first time one of the two of them can’t make it, it’s usually down hill from there. That first time the partner can’t show, is the set up for future no shows. It’s the way that partner gets out of the commitment. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen this happen.

Success Plan

Here are tips for a success plan as it relates to putting an end to New Years Resolutions. This is a plan to stop the viciousness cycle of disappointment and understand you have this choice every single day of the year. New Year’s Resolutions are not a one and done, it’s better to look at every day as a New Day to start again. To do better today than yesterday. Incremental changes definitely leads to success.

Do this for yourself, Don’t do it for anyone else. Don’t let anyone else dictate your desires, plans or schedule. Do this on your own. There tips in the actions section for support, but in this phase, it is all about you, your goals and how you’re going to achieve them.

A fit lifestyle or a desire to plan something new for yourself is a daily endeavor. It’s an opportunity to take action towards your desired goal daily. Whether that is a fitness goal, a business goal, a relationship goal, a hobby or to travel. The plans are made incrementally, not in one day like New Year’s Resolution implies.

It’s better to have the mindset at the forefront of your thoughts on a regular basis and in small achievable steps where the chances are your success in attaining them plausible. This is where you want to place yourself. You want to be in a place that makes your success highly likely.

For example, if you want to start a fitness journey, perhaps get healthier and you currently don’t work out and your eating habits are not the best. Pick one thing, the path of least resistance for you. Which is it? Would you rather join a gym and slowly change your eating habits or would you rather focus on your eating habits and start walking outside in your neighborhood? See, it’s knowing yourself and what you are capable of committing to. Perhaps it’s joining and gym and drinking more water. That’s a win as well. Then as you progress, you can start by cutting back on other things like, not buying your lunch and packing it for work, etc.

Making a plan is essential and this should be ongoing and updated regularly. You want to set smaller goals and acknowledge when those have been achieved. Your goals can also change throughout the year based on your desires and new achievements, so it’s a fluid process. Your goals are not written in stone, you own them and you can change them, just don’t quit.

Actions

You can take actions that will more than likely guarantee success that doesn’t involve a New Year’s resolution. By following a plan and checking in on it throughout the year, year after year helps you always stay on course for your goals. It allows you the flexibility to change, update and redirect priorities instead of feeling like a failure if you were not successful with your New Year’s resolution promise. It keeps you accountable and also places your intentions out into the world. As mentioned, you can shift and change as you see fit. Moving things around that work best for you. In life goals you could be working on multiple goals, a fit lifestyle goal as well as a travel goal. It doesn’t matter how many you’re working on the process is the same.

• Get a notebook for your goals
• Write down whatever comes to mind
• Prioritize your list
• Set small achievable goals, break this down further into smaller steps
• Reward yourself when you’ve achieved a goal and cross it off
• Re-prioritize your list
• Set reminders on your phone to check in with yourself
• Set reminders to follow through on action items, book airfare, buy gym bag, etc.
• Connect with people who will support your goals, either Facebook group, meet up, local clubs, travel agents, etc.
• Notice how you feel, are you proud of yourself?
• Notice what is working and what isn’t working. Adjust accordingly.
• Understand life can give you setbacks, just start again, just don’t quit. Ever.

MERCH

I am an affiliate marketer and may receive a small commission for items purchased through links on this blog. This affiliation has no effect on consumer pricing.

My goal with this blog is to stop New Year’s Resolutions because they don’t work for the most part. The options in this blog are healthier and achievable. Life isn’t perfect, we are not perfect, we just should try to do better today than yesterday. Keeping track, journaling and reassessing is a practical way to attain success.

Wishing you a wonderful 2024, full of blessings, health and wellness.