Cheat To Win
Cheat To Win
By Shane Sauer
As the new year begins, are you planning to make any changes to your habits and routines?
The New Year is a great time to make changes in your life. It can feel like a clean slate and that in itself can be very motivating. However, the excitement around the New Year also creates certain traps that can derail the best of ideas. Things like...
taking on a challenge that’s bigger/harder than you expect.
failing to identify all of the necessary details.
getting caught off guard by the emotions of trying something new.
missing the support needed to continue over the long term.
And this is only a short list. But, don’t let that discourage you from taking action to reach your goals! Instead, you should take a different approach.
I like to call it “Cheat to Win”, but if that doesn’t set the right tone for you, consider it “Getting a Head Start”.
Most people wait until the New Year to begin their resolutions. When you wait for this magical date, there is a lot of pressure and hype that gets built up around it. Not to mention what you will be undertaking is probably new and unfamiliar to you. A better tactic is to start early. Give yourself time to get used to the water before jumping in.
This approach has a lot of benefits. It’s like practice for the big game. You can get a better feeling for what’s involved in the change before all of the hype and pressure begins. This might help you with the traps listed above by:
recognizing that you bit off too much at once and change your goal to something manageable.
identifying the missing pieces of your plan and putting them in place before you go for real.
getting some experience under your belt so you don’t feel embarrassed or overwhelmed.
be confident in your decision so you’re willing to tell others.
So give it a shot. What do you have to lose? Start working on your New Year’s resolution today!
And if you feel like you might need some help, I am here for you. As a health and fitness professional, a lot of my job is helping people change habits. You can reach out for advice or set up a screening so you can hit the ground running.