How many times have you approached the New Year with eagerness and excitement?
Year after year you tell yourself this WILL be the year, so you approach each year with a full head of steam.
Society builds you up too. There are promotions and deals galore to get you on track with your health and fitness goals, and these companies build up that excitement and
reassure you that this IS the year.
But have you ever noticed they only tell you how great it will be? They paint this pretty picture of the upcoming year to help sell you on the idea of change.
But do you know the one thing they do wrong?
Unfortunately they forget to tell you some of the most important things about new
beginnings…
Now, I don’t want to be the Debbie Downer or the bearer of bad news, but I want to be real with you. I want you to be aware of these things ahead of time so you know when they’re coming and prepare yourself to navigate around them.
Let’s get into it.
The Excitement Fades
Your excitement levels are filled to the brim right now (rightfully so), but that excitement is going to wane.
There’s also probably a good chance that you read that and said “Not me!” because you swear this is the time and that nothing can stop you this year.
If that was you, then you definitely need to keep reading…
Sooner than people adjust to writing 2020 on their checks and documents, the excitement of the new beginning will fade.
Before you know it, we’ll be four months into the year and it will just be any old year again.
Unfortunately, that 2020 shine will be but a faint glare by the time summer rolls around.
Unless of course you continue to polish and shine it up.
Just because the initial excitement fades, doesn’t mean you can’t shine it up throughout the year or create new excitement.
It is possible to maintain excitement throughout the year, but it takes work.
Go through the 11 Questions to Ask While Setting Goals
Give a read to the [Guide] Becoming a Part of the Successful 5%
Refresh the excitement monthly, weekly, HECK DAILY if necessary! Keep it part of your resolution to maintain the excitement and energy of a new year.
The Picture Is Not As Pretty As It Looks
The ads and commercials make the New Year’s Specials sound pretty great, right?
Of course, they do!
They’re goal is to paint the best-looking picture to guarantee the sale!
But the picture isn’t as pretty as it looks…
They paint the picture of success, results, and happiness but they never let you see the blood, sweat, and tears that go into it.
The picture might be pretty but painting it can create quite the mess.
Weight loss, dieting, and starting a workout routine are HARD but they are absolutely necessary in order to complete the picture.
Be prepared mentally and physically for how tough the journey is ahead.
Know that it’s not all sunshine and roses.
Keep that beautiful image of the finished product fresh in your mind and look back on it when things really start to get messy because they will.
When that time comes check out the 10 Things to Ask Yourself When Sh*t Gets Hard Blog I put together.
Read through it, ask yourself the questions, and keep the paintbrush in hand so you can continue to create your best work yet.
Results Will Stall
One of the reasons this journey can get so hard is because your results will stall.
The beginning is almost magical. Each and every little thing you do for your health creates results. Weight seems to be falling off your body and your muscles only seem to get bigger and stronger.
But…
No matter how nutritionally perfect you are or how hard you push yourself in the gym, your progress will eventually slow and come to a stop.
When that time comes (presumably around week 3 or 4), you’re going to feel pretty down. You’ve been working just as hard if not harder, so how could it possibly be that your results stopped?
There’s a fault in this logic though.
Our society has grown to view a stall in progress as a negative thing.
IT’S NOT!
In the case of weight loss and fitness, it simply means your body has adapted to the change and requires a new stimulus to continue progress.
That’s what your body is designed to do! It doesn’t love change, so it works as fast as it can to adjust and regulate its systems to stop it.
It’s normal to feel a little frustrated but challenge yourself to view it as an opportunity to grow and strengthen your body further. See it as a chance to take on a new challenge and get one step closer towards your goals.
Want to know if there’s something you’re doing to stall your fat loss? Check out the blog from a few months back – The Mistakes Stalling Your Fat Loss.
You Will Quit
If I were the reader of this blog, I would have laughed and skipped right over this one.
I’m not a quitter!
I’m more stubborn than a donkey, so if I set out to do something, you can bet I’ll see it through.
You might be just like me, and for that reason, I challenge you not to pass this one over.
Stubborn as you may be, you’ll get to a point this year where you just say SCREW IT.
Whether it’s because results have completely stalled out or you find something that’s of more interest for you to pursue, there’s going to be time where you just say enough is enough.
But here’s the good news, your stubbornness will bring you back.
I know because that’s why I’m still here 😉
This journey is frustrating, disappointing, and will pull you away at every opportunity possible until it finally breaks you.
Then you’ve had enough and just cannot take it any longer.
Take a break.
Give yourself a deload week or a diet break.
Take time to think about it and sort out whether it’s something really worth pursuing or not.
Ask yourself WHY you started out on this crazy journey in the first place.
If it really isn’t the right journey for you, then start finding a new one.
But my guess is that you’ll come to the conclusion that for a number of reasons you need to complete this journey, so you jump back on track and away you go.
You Can Do This
One year I gave up sweets for an entire year. I had a teammate do it, and I thought it was so respectable that I decided to give it a go.
During the first week of January, everyone thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
After the first week of January, everyone thought I was nuts. They told me there was no way I make it through the entire year.
All these naysayers really made me question whether or not it was possible or worth it.
Then some cool dude told me how proud he was of me for setting this as a goal and said the four magic words that lit a fire under me for the rest of the year:
YOU CAN DO THIS.
You’re going to face naysayers, haters, and doubters throughout the entire year (and your entire life if we’re being honest), but you may not ever get someone to tell you that you can do this.
I’m that person for you.
I’m that person (coaching aside, just as a friend) telling you that YOU CAN DO THIS.
This year will be tough, but come back to this point whenever you feel challenged and remind yourself that you CAN do this.
Three Things to Remember
Now, we’re a little past the new year but I figure it’s never too late to pass on some wisdom about starting out on a New Year’s Resolution. Here are my 3 biggest things to remember when starting out:
Start Where You Are
There is nowhere else you can start besides where you are right now. Whether you tell yourself you need to get into better shape before going to the gym, that you need to clean up your eating before dieting, or that you need to be healthier before hiring a coach, you’re still starting from where you are now.
The longer you spend time wishing you were further along in your progress, the more time you waste, and the more time you waste, the better the chances of feeling bad about yourself.
Forget about where others started or where you wish you were, start right now at exactly the place you’re at.
Use What You Have
The cool part about health and fitness goals is that you can use exactly what you have at your fingertips to start.
The bad part about health and fitness goals is that nobody really believes that.
We love to play the comparison game and convince ourselves that other people are passing judgement based on what we do or do not have.
Do you know what?
NOBODY CARES.
And if they do, they’re doing life wrong.
No money for a gym membership? Walk, do exercises at home, stand up at your desk, or just be more active in your day.
Healthy food “too expensive”? Try making a few small changes or cut back on some of the unhealthier purchases out take out meals.
No money for a coach? Sign up for a FREE STRATEGY CALL with me and we can at least set you on the right path.
You have all the resources you need to get started right at your fingertips – use them!
Do What You Can
We set unbelievably high expectations for ourselves, and as great as it is to set the bar high, it also sets us up for some major disappointment.
This journey is simply about doing the best that you can. No more or no less.
Quit expecting yourself to eat perfect 100% of the time or to never miss a workout because those things will happen.
Focus on controlling what you can and doing the only thing you can each day – your best.
About The Author
Jordan Davies is the Co-Owner of Complete Performance. Jordan has her B.S. in Exercise Science and Psychology, and her M.A. in Holistic Health Studies. She is a CSCS certified strength and conditioning coach, and a PN-1 and NCI-1 certified nutrition coach. She loves to study how the human body needs to be moved and nourished and making that fit to your unique lifestyle. Click Here Now to Apply for Coaching with Jordan.
