New year, new you, new goals, new habits, new diet, new exercise plan, new lifestyle, new behaviours.... How much new do we need?! How much new should we have?
NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW | TOO MUCH.
It is human nature to want to do well, succeed and be the best version of yourself. So, when things don't quite go to plan, we often throw the towel in very quickly. We change direction fast, and we throw all our remaining eggs into our new basket. Learning to be patient with how long change does actually take, get satisfaction out of small wins, and persevere when we are slightly off track is key.
People love new year's resolutions. People love starting on Mondays and re-starting on the next Monday. People love having extravagant bullet pointed lists of goals, and they love re-inventing the wheel. New and big, is self-indulgent and flashy, it feels good right?
What if you changed your focus, direction and energy 'give' to 'growing' aspects you want to better, rather than a brand new 'thing'? What if you concentrated on just 1 or 2 aspects only? How crazy does this sound?!
An example of a common mindset is: "In the new year, I want to start doing 5 resistance sessions a week to work on my muscle tone". - straight off the bat there are a lot of red flags to a trainer.
Why does this person want to work on muscle tone?
Has this person been active with their movement recently?
Does this person have previous resistance training experience?
Does this person have access to equipment needed to succeed at this goal?
Can this person realistically fit in 5 sessions a week?
There is a lot of room here for this person to become overwhelmed, fatigued, not succeed week to week, and 'fail' in the long-term. Attention toward this is huge and very general.
A better way to set a resolution or goal (no matter what time of the year) for muscle tone would be: "I am feeling confident and comfortable with my leg strength and tone, but I feel like my arms lets me down during more laboursome tasks, and I don't feel that confident with baring my arms in shorter sleeved clothing".
Straight away the person is wanting to grow and work on bettering a single aspect (arm muscle strength and tone).
They have been specific with what they want to achieve (be more functional under load, and confident in different clothing), and
They haven't set a solid or unrealistic protocol (they haven't overreached they are waiting to ask a professional or think about what will work for them).
It just feels better and less tiresome already right?!