I once worked in a gym, selling memberships and doing general manager-y stuff. In December, lots of people came in to buy memberships they’d start using “after the new year.” Ambitions were high.
The first 2 weeks of January, the place was packed. The regulars complained at the front desk. It was crowded with “all the new people,” they said.
“Don’t worry,” I assured them. “Give it a little time. In a week or two, it’ll be back to normal.” And it was. By the third week of January, the crowds were noticeably thinner. By February first, the “new people”—and their goals—were gone.
A new year is a great time to pause, reflect, and think about what we’d like to accomplish with our lives in the next 52 weeks. It’s also a time when our well-meaning aspirations can swell so large they make us forget the day-to-day realities that conspire to deflate them. At the gym, I saw lots of guys who fully intended, on January first, to work out like The Rock every day of the new year. Then things like work, school, and maybe childcare and family obligations got in the way. And let’s not forget pesky things like eating and sleeping.
In contrast, I once read about a sedentary woman who needed to start exercising to improve her health. Her doctor helped her set a goal: when she watched TV in the evenings, she’d get up and jog in place during every two-minute commercial break. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? But here’s the thing: it was a goal so realistic she almost couldn’t fail. She kept it up every night for a month, and found she felt and looked so much better that she decided to increase the time. Then she added some pushups. Then she added some squats and sit-ups and…you can probably guess where this story goes. Each small, confidence-building achievement inspired her to keep reaching for new successes. She’s now living a healthy, high-quality lifestyle that includes half-marathons.
Isn’t it ironic? Sky-high resolutions can set us up for a long, hard fall. But when we instead take small steps upward, we can climb to unlimited heights—in fitness or anything else.
Photo by Alexander Redl on Unsplash