New Years Resolutions are an interesting thing. A new year, a fresh start. Goals made, promises to do better or be better.
I don't think anyone makes a New Years Resolution with the intention of not following through.
People make resolutions for a lot of reasons.
The list goes on and on.
I like the idea of a New Years Resolution. I can see the appeal. A fresh year means a fresh start. It's a new beginning, a chance to start over. I think we like to start at the beginning of something. It's why people always seem to start diets on Mondays. 😉
I went to the YMCA today to do my swim workout. There was a long line of people getting signed up for new memberships and I saw many tours being given while I was working out. Pretty exciting to see all those people who are making steps towards being healthier.
Luckily for me they weren't all trying to use pool for swimming laps.
But I have an issue with New Year Resolutions. A lot of people will hit a road block or they will "fail" and then they give up on the resolution until next year, when they can start fresh again. I did that for a lot of years.
Instead of seeing the resolution as being something that needs to be a journey with all the twists and turns of life, it becomes a short trip that stops at the first sign of difficulty.
That's not how life really works.
I really think that in order to be successful at a New Years Resolution, or making a goal or whatever you want to call it, you have to understand you are going to have setbacks. There are going to be times where you feel like you are rocking it and times where you just want to quit. Times where it feels awesome and times where you think you must have been crazy to even try.
I think each day we have a chance to start over.
If yesterday sucked I don't have to wait until the New Year to start again, I can start again today.
That's a pretty great gift.
My workouts the last week or so have been a struggle. I had a run on New Years Day that I had a goal of running with an average pace of under 11 minute miles. I didn't even come close!
Have I been frustrated? Yep.
Am I going to give up? Nope.
Last Wednesday I headed out for a interval workout at the high school track near my house. Did my warm up walk on the way and then did the ramp up. By the time I got to the track I was ready to start my intervals. Then I do the ramp down and cool down walk on the way home. Works pretty well.
When I was in front of my house waiting for my Garmin's GPS to be ready I saw a man run by my house. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt! It was 35 degrees outside! It was COLD! I thought he was crazy!
I also recognized how he was running. He was running like everything hurt and the look on his face looked like he thought everything hurt and he might just be stupid for even trying to run. I recognized it because I'm pretty sure that's exactly how I looked when I started running. (I may not look like that now but I still often feel like that on the inside!)
I did my five minute walk to warm up and kept the shorts and t-shirt guy in my sights. As I started to ramp up my speed I also started catching up with him. I passed him as we were going by the high school. Just as I was getting ready to peel off to go to the track I told him, "Nice work!" He stopped running for a moment and was shaking his head. I turned around and told him, "You are out here doing it, that's all that matters!" He kind of smiled at me, took a deep breath and started up again.
What shorts and t-shirt guy didn't know was that I really meant it.
I know when I first started running I was pretty sure everyone who passed me was laughing at me. Or feeling sorry for me because I was so slow, or a wide variety of other not nice things.
What I have found is that people who are working out think it is awesome to see other people working out. Yay us! We are out here doing our thing! It's like being a part of a special club but all takes to be a part of the club is to just GO!
I'm faster than I used to be but I'm not as fast as I want to be so I will keep working at it.
That's the secret to keeping a goal or a New Years Resolution going! To keep working at it!!!!!
I'm going to keep working at it.
So if you pass someone slower than you, give them a smile and a "Nice Work!" It just might be what helps them keep going. (It did for me more times than I can count!)
If you are passed by someone faster than you and they smile at you and say "Nice Work!" you need to know they mean it! You are doing great! Keep it up!!
Find someone who will encourage you! Find someone who will support you. Find someone who gets what you are trying to accomplish and will hold you accountable. And if you have a bad day, a bad week or even a bad month, DO NOT GIVE UP!!. Start fresh in the morning!!!!
I love this quote. All of my failures have been learning experiences. Not fun while it happens but I learned about myself and made changes or improvements to better next time. So that the next time I fail I am still WAY ahead of where I was when I started.
Keep working at your resolutions and your goals.
Keep trying.
Keep failing.
Fail better. 😃
I don't think anyone makes a New Years Resolution with the intention of not following through.
People make resolutions for a lot of reasons.
- To be healthier.
- To be more organized.
- To learn a new skill.
- Get a new job.
- Finish something they started.
- Be kinder to others.
The list goes on and on.
I like the idea of a New Years Resolution. I can see the appeal. A fresh year means a fresh start. It's a new beginning, a chance to start over. I think we like to start at the beginning of something. It's why people always seem to start diets on Mondays. 😉
I went to the YMCA today to do my swim workout. There was a long line of people getting signed up for new memberships and I saw many tours being given while I was working out. Pretty exciting to see all those people who are making steps towards being healthier.
Luckily for me they weren't all trying to use pool for swimming laps.
But I have an issue with New Year Resolutions. A lot of people will hit a road block or they will "fail" and then they give up on the resolution until next year, when they can start fresh again. I did that for a lot of years.
Instead of seeing the resolution as being something that needs to be a journey with all the twists and turns of life, it becomes a short trip that stops at the first sign of difficulty.
That's not how life really works.
I really think that in order to be successful at a New Years Resolution, or making a goal or whatever you want to call it, you have to understand you are going to have setbacks. There are going to be times where you feel like you are rocking it and times where you just want to quit. Times where it feels awesome and times where you think you must have been crazy to even try.
I think each day we have a chance to start over.
If yesterday sucked I don't have to wait until the New Year to start again, I can start again today.
That's a pretty great gift.
My workouts the last week or so have been a struggle. I had a run on New Years Day that I had a goal of running with an average pace of under 11 minute miles. I didn't even come close!
Have I been frustrated? Yep.
Am I going to give up? Nope.
Last Wednesday I headed out for a interval workout at the high school track near my house. Did my warm up walk on the way and then did the ramp up. By the time I got to the track I was ready to start my intervals. Then I do the ramp down and cool down walk on the way home. Works pretty well.
When I was in front of my house waiting for my Garmin's GPS to be ready I saw a man run by my house. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt! It was 35 degrees outside! It was COLD! I thought he was crazy!
I also recognized how he was running. He was running like everything hurt and the look on his face looked like he thought everything hurt and he might just be stupid for even trying to run. I recognized it because I'm pretty sure that's exactly how I looked when I started running. (I may not look like that now but I still often feel like that on the inside!)
I did my five minute walk to warm up and kept the shorts and t-shirt guy in my sights. As I started to ramp up my speed I also started catching up with him. I passed him as we were going by the high school. Just as I was getting ready to peel off to go to the track I told him, "Nice work!" He stopped running for a moment and was shaking his head. I turned around and told him, "You are out here doing it, that's all that matters!" He kind of smiled at me, took a deep breath and started up again.
What shorts and t-shirt guy didn't know was that I really meant it.
I know when I first started running I was pretty sure everyone who passed me was laughing at me. Or feeling sorry for me because I was so slow, or a wide variety of other not nice things.
What I have found is that people who are working out think it is awesome to see other people working out. Yay us! We are out here doing our thing! It's like being a part of a special club but all takes to be a part of the club is to just GO!
I'm faster than I used to be but I'm not as fast as I want to be so I will keep working at it.
That's the secret to keeping a goal or a New Years Resolution going! To keep working at it!!!!!
I'm going to keep working at it.
So if you pass someone slower than you, give them a smile and a "Nice Work!" It just might be what helps them keep going. (It did for me more times than I can count!)
If you are passed by someone faster than you and they smile at you and say "Nice Work!" you need to know they mean it! You are doing great! Keep it up!!
Find someone who will encourage you! Find someone who will support you. Find someone who gets what you are trying to accomplish and will hold you accountable. And if you have a bad day, a bad week or even a bad month, DO NOT GIVE UP!!. Start fresh in the morning!!!!
Keep working at your resolutions and your goals.
Keep trying.
Keep failing.
Fail better. 😃
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