By Chicago Personal Trainer Marlon Ordonez
“New Year – New Me!”
Heard that before? Sounds lovely, but it’s not necessarily good for us. Where did this whole New Year’s resolution thing begin anyway? It started in Ancient Babylon where the people made simple, and easily achievable promises to the Gods; simple things like cleaning up after themselves and putting away equipment. However, now we make complicated promises to ourselves. Many people go through the holiday season enjoying themselves and putting on unwanted weight, unnecessary stress, and make their health and wellness a bit more complicated because they just tell themselves Jan 1 is a “New Year and a New me!” If you are there now, this is not to tell you that your thought process is wrong. In fact, it’s just to share a different perspective. Believe or don’t believe – have your own experience, and enjoy yourself reading through this for a moment in hopes it may bring some value.
Giving ourselves affirmations, making future promises and pursuing self – help regularly not only delays action but can become addicting; just the act of creating a resolution is enough to make us feel better! We all know someone who makes public declarations with conviction and has no noticeable change in the future. Know someone like that? You could have been like that, or are like that, and that’s okay! The problem with tying a behavioral change to a date like the new year does not allow room for failure and recovery, and if you are a human being, you will fail and hopefully choose to recover. At least 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Below is food for thought on why starting TODAY, is better than January 1st – Get your snack on!
Thought Snack # 1
Get your trainer, membership, schedule, and routine secured now.
We have all seen how packed the gym gets after the first of the year. Great fitness coaches have to turn down business because of their busy schedules. If you wait, unfortunately, you may just have to take what’s available and sometimes that means sacrificing quality.
Thought Snack #2
Gain momentum! Even if you are traveling or are extra busy with work this time of year, get started NOW. Invest some money now before some of it is accidentally splurged on NYE or excessive holiday shopping. The point is to get that investment out of the way by securing your health and fitness now. Schedule a session, even if its only once before the New Year. That one session will boost your motivation and confidence to go in strong, secure a future schedule, meet your trainer and possibly get a better deal now than when January comes around. A general rule of thumb is the longer you wait, the harder it gets.
Thought Snack #3
Change is a process that requires time, energy, focus and patience. Breaking habits and building new ones constantly takes retraining the brain. Know that you can start over everyday, every hour and every minute – so why wait? Instead of saying “In 2018 I will workout.” Just say ” I will workout and have fun now.” If you are serious about change, you need to dig deep, and most of the time that requires honesty with ourselves without judging ourselves. It’s important to be kind to ourselves to promote the right type of change.
Start now and keep starting over. It’s gradual incremental changes that make a difference. Get better now, and keep getting better everyday. You will slip and make mistakes, and slide back. Success is like a muddy mountain; you climb up, you slide back down and you keep climbing up. Know that failure is good, and that bouncing back is a skill. It’s not how hard you fall, it’s how high you bounce back. If you need help getting started, RightFit Personal Training will match you with the right trainer. Don’t wait until January – that’s when everyone will be reaching out. Get ahead of the curve!
Marlon Ordonez is a certified personal trainer in Chicago, IL. Contact him today to schedule a free introductory session.