We are on the cusp of a New Year - an invigorating optimistic time for many - for me.
I hesitate to go overboard with how I feel (and very important to touch wood like mad which I am) because so many in the world are not so fortunate and we should take nothing for granted. For instance many in the north of England and Scotland are currently flooded - homes and businesses lost. Many in the world are facing ill-health, hardship or hunger and cannot see how their lot will change in 2016. Of course many are threatened or affected by war - not of their making - and so desperately sad. So I hesitate.
However back to my original May 2014 opening blog and why I am writing a blog. I am sharing my personal thoughts so here goes!
I have done my early morning bike ride this morning. (I have done so just about every morning for the last several years). There were a few more new faces out jogging this morning. It was the same yesterday at our local sports club - new members. It is the time of year that people resolve to make changes in their lifestyle - to break bad habits - to try and lose weight - to get fitter - to drink less - to be more active - to be more healthy - to watch less TV - to be more thrifty - not to spend so much time on social media etc etc! What is on your list?
This is my thought. The problem with New Years resolutions - or even Monday Morning resolutions is they tend to be all or nothing. Their strength is you enter into an undertaking with yourself and maybe others. It is simple to say and understand. I have given up cigarettes or I am going to stop snacking between meals. The trouble is it is easy to falter and if you do what are you left with? I know someone that starts a diet every Monday morning. Typically something happens in his working week - lets say he is required to attend a business lunch - his diet goes out of the window. His mentality is then - ok I have blown my diet for this week - I might as well continue eating what I want for the remainder of the week and I will start my new diet next Monday! I am suggesting a better way is to dispense with "resolutions" and replace them with "objectives". My objective is - I am going to get fitter, I am going to lose weight, I am going to change my lifestyle. I see objectives as more flexible than absolutist resolutions. I see objectives as long-term and not necessarily lost if you stray off the resolution path. True they do not have the total defined and clear cut strength of a resolution but I think there is strength that comes from realism. Most people fail to see out their resolutions for ever. Too often we revert to type once the resolution has been conceded. With a committed objective - if you have a lapse or fail to run every day etc. you can say to yourself ok - but that does not mean I have lost my objective - all is not lost - I shall keep working towards my objective. I have written it before. Life style change particularly in the sense of getting and staying fit " is a marathon not a sprint". So I look at those New Year joggers and new members to our sports club. I see it every year. They will be out every day for the first week or two weeks or month. They are sprinting! But for the vast majority it leads to burn out. They have been unrealistically intense. They lose their resolve. They have gone too fast. A better more sustainable approach is to realise life style change is a marathon. Think in terms of your long-term objective. Progress might benefit from being slower, more realistic - more sustainable - this is my thought. Run 3 times per week not every day.
My other thought relates to planning your year ahead. This a great time of year. A new diary. A new cycle.
Some people resist structure in their life. They like to live every day as it comes. Maximum flexibility - minimum planning. That is fine - each to his own - but it doesn't work for me. I do two things this time of year in terms of planning for the forthcoming year.
The first is a make a list of objectives - things I would like to do or achieve in 2016. I then put against them a target start date and a target finish date. One might be paint the outside of the house or run a marathon - ha! I find this list helpful - particularly putting it into a time frame. However this list is only objectives. I do not beat myself up over it. It is a flexible working document. It is subject to change. Things will drop off the list - others will be added - but I find it practical, helpful and motivating.
The second thing I do is pencil or in some cases ink in dates in my diary of things I plan/want to do. This has two major benefits. I have found over the years that there is always reasons not to do things. Usually because there are conflicting time pressures. You want to go away - but it clashes with something else you or your family have arranged. It clashes with a work related event. People can't get the time off work because they have thought about it too late. By getting dates in the diary you avoid this. You keep your diary clear. You can say - sorry I cannot do that - I am on holiday etc. The other major benefit is I take pleasure in the planning. It gives you things to look forward to. It is more efficient as it allows you to prepare better - to do the google searches - to make good decisions. My diary for 2016 is already taking shape - and it is a very positive feeling.
May I round off by wishing you and your family a happy and successful New Year (in your own terms of course!)
I hesitate to go overboard with how I feel (and very important to touch wood like mad which I am) because so many in the world are not so fortunate and we should take nothing for granted. For instance many in the north of England and Scotland are currently flooded - homes and businesses lost. Many in the world are facing ill-health, hardship or hunger and cannot see how their lot will change in 2016. Of course many are threatened or affected by war - not of their making - and so desperately sad. So I hesitate.
However back to my original May 2014 opening blog and why I am writing a blog. I am sharing my personal thoughts so here goes!
I have done my early morning bike ride this morning. (I have done so just about every morning for the last several years). There were a few more new faces out jogging this morning. It was the same yesterday at our local sports club - new members. It is the time of year that people resolve to make changes in their lifestyle - to break bad habits - to try and lose weight - to get fitter - to drink less - to be more active - to be more healthy - to watch less TV - to be more thrifty - not to spend so much time on social media etc etc! What is on your list?
This is my thought. The problem with New Years resolutions - or even Monday Morning resolutions is they tend to be all or nothing. Their strength is you enter into an undertaking with yourself and maybe others. It is simple to say and understand. I have given up cigarettes or I am going to stop snacking between meals. The trouble is it is easy to falter and if you do what are you left with? I know someone that starts a diet every Monday morning. Typically something happens in his working week - lets say he is required to attend a business lunch - his diet goes out of the window. His mentality is then - ok I have blown my diet for this week - I might as well continue eating what I want for the remainder of the week and I will start my new diet next Monday! I am suggesting a better way is to dispense with "resolutions" and replace them with "objectives". My objective is - I am going to get fitter, I am going to lose weight, I am going to change my lifestyle. I see objectives as more flexible than absolutist resolutions. I see objectives as long-term and not necessarily lost if you stray off the resolution path. True they do not have the total defined and clear cut strength of a resolution but I think there is strength that comes from realism. Most people fail to see out their resolutions for ever. Too often we revert to type once the resolution has been conceded. With a committed objective - if you have a lapse or fail to run every day etc. you can say to yourself ok - but that does not mean I have lost my objective - all is not lost - I shall keep working towards my objective. I have written it before. Life style change particularly in the sense of getting and staying fit " is a marathon not a sprint". So I look at those New Year joggers and new members to our sports club. I see it every year. They will be out every day for the first week or two weeks or month. They are sprinting! But for the vast majority it leads to burn out. They have been unrealistically intense. They lose their resolve. They have gone too fast. A better more sustainable approach is to realise life style change is a marathon. Think in terms of your long-term objective. Progress might benefit from being slower, more realistic - more sustainable - this is my thought. Run 3 times per week not every day.
My other thought relates to planning your year ahead. This a great time of year. A new diary. A new cycle.
Some people resist structure in their life. They like to live every day as it comes. Maximum flexibility - minimum planning. That is fine - each to his own - but it doesn't work for me. I do two things this time of year in terms of planning for the forthcoming year.
The first is a make a list of objectives - things I would like to do or achieve in 2016. I then put against them a target start date and a target finish date. One might be paint the outside of the house or run a marathon - ha! I find this list helpful - particularly putting it into a time frame. However this list is only objectives. I do not beat myself up over it. It is a flexible working document. It is subject to change. Things will drop off the list - others will be added - but I find it practical, helpful and motivating.
The second thing I do is pencil or in some cases ink in dates in my diary of things I plan/want to do. This has two major benefits. I have found over the years that there is always reasons not to do things. Usually because there are conflicting time pressures. You want to go away - but it clashes with something else you or your family have arranged. It clashes with a work related event. People can't get the time off work because they have thought about it too late. By getting dates in the diary you avoid this. You keep your diary clear. You can say - sorry I cannot do that - I am on holiday etc. The other major benefit is I take pleasure in the planning. It gives you things to look forward to. It is more efficient as it allows you to prepare better - to do the google searches - to make good decisions. My diary for 2016 is already taking shape - and it is a very positive feeling.
May I round off by wishing you and your family a happy and successful New Year (in your own terms of course!)
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