Ramp Up Your New Year’s Resolutions

RAMP UP YOUR RESOLUTIONS

New Year’s Day inevitably makes me giddy. I feel awake and alive . . . like it’s time to refresh my life and conquer hefty goals. I feel this way regardless of whether the prior year was a raving success or utterly unremarkable (I’ve had my share of both). As important, the new year provides me with needed motivation right in the middle of the short days that accompany the cold Colorado winter. In other words . . . I need the new year.

This is likely true for most of you as well. January 1 is significant, a mile-marker where we set our resolutions for the next 365 days. These are goals designed to usher in a better, more rewarding future. So, let me be the first to wish you a happy, healthy, and productive 2020! Get ready to hear that a lot in the next few weeks. But there is a reason I didn’t wait until January 1 to write this note. I have a great tip for you NOW, right before the new year commences:

Now is the ideal time to ramp up to your resolutions.

By this I mean create your 2020 goals list now and start on it today! You have just over 15 ramp-up days until January 1. This is valuable time to start the habit-formation process and see how to balance your life, time, and energy to reach your new, more important goals. There are many positives the stem from this approach. For example, an early start provides a realistic and precious glimpse into the:

1. Future – how cool is it to see what your days will look like after shuffling your time and priorities to new endeavors. Is this an acceptable and doable change in your life?
2. Hurdles Blocking Your Goals – an early start shows how your body & mind will resist your new goals. Exhibit A: your new fitness plan or Exhibit B: a tighter budget. Start now to begin to muster the strength to overcome these hurdles. This can prevent a failure after January 1 when you are looking for motivation and consistency.
3. Difficulty of Forming New, More Energy-Intensive Habits – an early start gives you a runway to gird-up and then hit the ground running in January.
4. Reality of Figuring Out What You Love and Don’t – after trying a new goal for a bit, you might find that you aren’t really all that into it. Figure that out now and you may remove it from the list before the new year. This won’t work for everything as learning what you love takes time, but it can rule out goals that made your resolutions list but never really merited a place in your heart.
5. Reality of Your Life Situation – for instance, you may find that your goal of exercising one-hour per day is unrealistic; you just don’t have the time. Do, knock it down to 30 sweat-filled minutes instead. You have now created a realistic opportunity to stick with your fitness routine.

Remember, the key to any goal is to avoid quitting. These five benefits will give you an idea as to whether you are likely to quit or likely to stick with each goal on your list. Let’s see how this ramp up process will work with a specific resolution.

Example:
You Resolve to Get in Better Shape in 2020

Exercise provides a great example of the benefits of ramping up to a resolution. Most everyone wants to get in better shape in 2020. Let’s face it, we live in America, the land of box-checking and, “I’m too busy.” Let’s say that your goal is to exercise at least an hour a day, five days a week for this coming year. That’s a good goal and at the top range of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services minimum guidelines for adults (five hours a week of moderate-intensity exercise).

However, let’s also assume that you haven’t really done anything that can be considered “breaking a sweat” for the past few . . . or more . . . months. It would be foolish to jump right into even a moderate intensity workout regime on January 1. That type of decision consistently leads to injury and burn-out.

Instead, ramp up to your fitness resolution. Work out today and tomorrow for ten minutes. Do fifteen minutes after that, and twenty after that. Keep increasing the time and intensity as you feel up to it. Get your heart beating faster and your body ready for what’s to come. Let your body experience the (good) soreness that comes with lifting weights or going for a run. Start to change your diet slowly the first few days. Stretch out your tight muscles. Remember, you gave yourself a year to get in shape and so consistently persist at a productive pace.

Let’s face it, people stay out of shape mostly because the human body does not just spring back into a fitness routine. Getting physically fit is tough and we need some coaxing. So . . . start coaxing your body and mind now and begin to build a habit where your natural inclination is to work out for an hour on January 1. The bottom line is that getting in better shape is an awesome 2020 goal. But, it’s only worth it if you actually do it. It can’t be a January flash in the pan.

To Conclude:
2020 Goals Everyone Should Consider

In addition to getting fit, here are five other resolutions everyone should add to their list in 2020. You’ll notice that most of these involve lowering your stress level:

1. Clean Out Your Email. Try to end the day with zero (that’s right, I said zero) emails. Getting to zero emails is painful at the beginning, believe me. But, it’s worth it. Your plan should be to ramp up and get rid of 20 extra emails a day until the new year. Then resolve to keep this way on a weekly basis for the entire year. Do the same thing with your desk at home and at work. Do the same thing with your bills, mail, and taxes. Catch up, pace yourself, and watch your stress level melt away as you get your professional life in order.
2. Have a Few Character-Defining Moments Each Day. These don’t have to be monumental things and could include:
   • Saying or doing something really nice for a few people each day.
   • Telling the truth when you otherwise would have lied.
   • Saying thank you in situations where you otherwise would stay locked into your world (i.e., to a server at a restaurant)
3. Drive more Patiently. Patience is indeed a virtue and takes practice. So . . . ramp up to the new year by trying this for a fourth of your commute – perhaps just a mile or so. Then, ramp up to a third of your commute and then half. Finally, you will be able to get to work without being a stressed, upset a-hole. Wouldn’t this be a much, much better way to start your workday?
4. Mellow Out On Some Grudges. Slowly but surely work to get to a neutral place (at worst) with the people who have angered you. By the way, keep in mind that your anger likely troubles you far more than it troubles the person against whom you hold the grudge.
5. Learn Something New. Whether it be a foreign language, graphic design, or how to cook. Your goal could be to read a new book on an interesting topic every two weeks. You could do this just by putting down your phone and reading for 30 minutes before bed each night. That’s 30 pages a night, 200 or so a week, and a whole book every two weeks! Regardless of what you choose to master, work at this new skill consistently over the next year.

Hopefully, I’ve inspired you at least a bit to get a head start on 2020. Use these last weeks of December to get going on the new you . . . slowly. You have sixteen to begin to work out the kinks. Keep in mind that it takes at least three weeks to develop a habit. Ramp up and you will be ahead of the pack as your habits start to form. Everyone else will be a few weeks behind. This way, you’ll be better prepared to get after your goals in 2020.

Best of success to you and your family in this New Year!

Corey

• Check out COREYSPEAKS.COM for more on popular keynote speaker Corey Ciocchetti. Corey has keynotes on happiness, integrity, ethical leadership, ethical decision-making, morale, stress reduction, and professionalism. Corey has spoken in 45 states and over 250 cities since 2007.
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