Rant: New Years Resolutions

[In2theknight]

Warning: this post is not going to be for the super sensitive at heart.

I am tired of hearing ppl say what they are GOING to do starting the 1st of the year. “I’m going to stop smoking”, “I’m going to start working out”, “I’m going to start eating better”…”on the 1st of the year.” WHY?! What is a good reason…no…excuse that ppl can’t start the journey to achieve their goals today?

The simple fact is January 1st is just another day in your life. It’s not a day that the sun’s rays will be stronger so to give you more energy to start working out. It’s not a day that you will win a million dollars as long as you stop smoking on that day alone. It’s not a day that food portions will magically become smaller so you can start losing weight. It is just 1 out of 365 days in a year.

“New Years Resolution” is nothing more than a nice, sugar coated way of saying “procrastination”. Because that’s all it is. It’s ppl knowing that they want to change something about themselves and their lives but putting it on hold until a specific day.

One random day last Sept, I don’t even know what day it was, I just decided out of the blue to get out and run on the West Seattle track. And from that day, I have kept to that almost every single day for the last 3 months. I am proud to say that I am 30 pounds lighter today because of that decision. Had I made a New Years Resolution about what I was GOING to do, I wouldn’t be able to say I lost 30 lbs until next April.

START THE JOURNEY TO YOUR GOAL TODAY. That way when you reach your goal, you will have done it 3 days ahead of schedule.

You want to start an exercise plan? Stand up, dress accordingly, and go outside NOW. You want to stop smoking? Go find the cigs in your house and throw them out NOW. You want to lose weight? The next time you have a chance to eat, make sure you are putting something healthy in your mouth and it is a small portion TODAY. Not this coming Thursday, but TODAY. If you need a support group, you reach out to your friends, family, WSB or you can PM me to be your support TODAY.

Ultimately 1/1/2009 doesn’t mean anything at all when it comes to living your life the way you want. It is nothing more than just another 24 hours.

In conclusion, don’t let my final sentence offend you. Instead, look at it as tough love/encouragment-

Either put up, or shut up…TODAY.

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[Irukandji]

Yep.

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[JanS]

I’m also a firm believer of always doing your best…for that day…whatever your best can be. It doesn’t mean perfection, and it doesn’t mean setting an unrealistic goal, as in, I want to lose 50 pounds by April. That’s setting yourself up for a failure that you may not be able to handle, and you may slide back into old ways and habits. But…to do your best for that day, for today. Who could ask for more?

Congratulations on the 30 lb. loss…was that a goal? or a by-product?

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[angelescrest]

Good to hear. Thanks.

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[waterworld]

I’m with you, completely.

I did hear how the resolution approach works for some people, however, when I visited my sister-in-law over the holidays. Her beau has been smoking for years, and I’ve been not minding my own business about it every now and then for years. Apparently, when we visited a couple years ago over the holidays, I asked him when he was going to quit, and he gave some vague answer. So I suggested he name a date, and he did — January 20, 2007. I forgot all about it. Turns out, he did quit on that exact date. When I saw him a week ago, he was a non-smoker. He said having a firm date for the end of his relationship with tobacco, with a few weeks to work up to it mentally, did the trick.

Whatever works.

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