NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS


Happy New Year and welcome to my blog. Thanks for stopping by, I'm hoping to make it entertaining and interesting enough for it to be worth your time. However, if it's not, don't stay on my account, you've got shit to do! Or maybe you don't, in which case, have I got content for you!
Starting a blog is one of my New Year's resolutions. The comedian in me is pretty excited to get this thing going. The journalist in me is old-school though so he's a little shitty about blogging. But too bad, if he wanted to do real journalism, he should have been a bigger part of my personality and not just a degree collecting dust in my closet.
One facet of any resolution is that by telling people about it you make yourself more accountable. Hence why I'm telling you this.
So on that note, I'm gonna kick off this blog with five thoughts on New Year's resolutions. I've seen a million of them through working as a personal trainer so here's a few things I've found useful, both with clients and with my own resolutions.

1. FOCUS ON THE PROCESS INSTEAD OF THE RESULT.
Results might be quantifiable but they can make the task of getting there vague and unspecific. Focussing on the process will help you make long-term improvements by focussing on what's necessary to get there. As Tiger Woods once put it, "winning is not always the barometer of getting better." A mindset he applied brilliantly to golf and not so well to chasing hookers.

2. TELL PEOPLE YOUR RESOLUTIONS.
Sure it might feel a tad awkward but you'll be more socially accountable. To some extent everyone can benefit from this but it's even more motivating amongst those who are really self-conscious. So hey, if you're a living anxiety-vessel, this is your time to shine! Why not channel your social anxiety into a 2018 resolution? Just keep pretending people around you are focussing on what you're doing instead of their own lives and start getting shit done out of fear!

3. THROW IN A DESTRUCTIVE RESOLUTION.
If it's destructive, it doesn't really matter whether you acheive it, but it's a good reminder that while everyone is constantly wanting to be 'better' (or fitter/faster/stronger/smarter/richer/healthier/etc) there's actually nothing wrong with enjoying life instead of 'accomplishing' it. Working on your goals should be an opportunity, not an obligation. Throwing in a destructive resolution might just help balance the scales and make you factor a couple of backwards steps into your other 2018 plans. For example, it's totally possible to get fitter and have some boozy nights out so why not plan for it? It's not as if you weren't going to break your healthy spell with a few drinks anyway.

4. MAKE YOUR RESOLUTION WATER-TIGHT.
A friend of mine once decided his New Year's resolution was to stop smoking. He didn't smoke on day one but by January 2nd he was back to old habits. Over the course of one nicotine-free day, he figured out a loophole whereby if his New Year's resolution was 'to quit smoking' it technically meant he had the whole year to quit. Pretty sneaky. If you're gonna go down that road, then you may as well just broaden your goal to be 'to quit smoking at some point.' That way, even smoke until dying of lung cancer, technically speaking you'll have succeeded in quitting.

5. JUST DO IT.
Ignore the first four steps above and just start doing the work.



14/01/2018
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