New Year's Resolutions failures and are 'Goals' to blame?

So many people get back to work and to the flow of their daily routine after the winter break and holidays. The timeframe in between Christmas and New Year's Day always seems to be an odd one, typically people head to a place where the weather may be warmer or get some skiing in. The routine and balance of our everyday or 'normal' days seems to be thrown off the rails. Maybe you have children out of school or your office actually gives you time off (lucky you!) and this timeframe lets you really take a break.

Then the new year hits and you try to get back into your regular routine. Perhaps you make it a point to challenge yourself in some way, maybe it is to read more or journal or have a goal of losing weight or gaining muscle.

Many people will look at the calendar and maybe find additional motivation to lose weight, perhaps it is entering a marathon in a few months. I thought about doing this!

But wait, I used a word that I think actually impedes the notion of reaching your goal weight or adding muscle. That word actually is 'goal'. I'm not so sure having a 'goal' of losing 10 or 20 pounds by X amount of months makes much sense, especially when it comes to putting together a New Years resolution.

But why do I think this?

In my journey to really transform my body composition and make sure I get stronger I never had a certain 'goal' in mind. Crazy, right? It was always to try to remain consistent and not break the strong routine or daily habits I set.

Instead of setting a 'Goal' I believe people should alter their daily routine or habits during the timeframe you are not sleeping. Let me ask you, how are you going to feel after the 2 months period and you did not hit your goal? In the gym I frequent, they plastered all these words on the wall and one of the most prominent words on the wall is 'GOALS'. People think you need to have a goal when it comes to improving your health, I'm here to help debunk this notion.

So here is my hot take: The notion of 'goal setting' sets us up for failure and will only promote the notion to 'give up' on that resolution.

This goes for any type of resolution. If someone is planning to read more, they need to find the time in their day to add this in. Where can you find 20 or 30 minutes to add a workout in? Carve out the time and stick with it.

I came across this great Ted Talk from a former athlete who believes 'Goals' don't work. Give this a view:

I believe this is the main reason why New Year's Resolutions fail or fall to the waist side for so many people. I'm sure many people have said this to themselves: "I did not manage to lose 10 pounds by March 1st, forget it".

We are our worst critics and are so hard on ourselves and the notion of goal setting doesn't help this one bit.

So what should we do instead? Like I mentioned before, it really comes down to making slight changes to your daily routine. Instead of sitting on the couch after dinner, put on a 20 minute workout video. But maybe you really value that time to unwind, so perhaps it is getting up earlier and do that workout before your morning grind to the office or getting your children ready for school.

It comes down to altering the previous year's daily routine to make the necessary changes. It really comes down to creating sustainable habits that you learn to enjoy doing. (I have a book recommendation on this, maybe I'll save for my next blog post).

I did not make any New Year's resolutions this year, but I did say to myself 'Maintain my consistent daily routine to further enhance my energy levels and pay closer attention to what I'm eating'. What do you notice in this statement? There is no goal or timeframe set, but simply to remain consistent.

It is now March, perhaps your resolution went off the rails, but you still have nine months to get back on track and make your changes. Get started, again.