How To Stop The New Year’s Resolution Cycle… (With Mini-Goals)

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New Year's Resolution Cycle mini goal

What’s up goal crushers,

We did it… We finally made it to 2016. I know you have New Year’s Resolutions, new goals, new dreams, and aspirations that you are eager to take on headfirst. But first, I urge you to pause for a second and reflect on your 2015…

See yourself in January of 2015; you said good riddance to 2014 and you’re ready to do all types of awesome things. You had new resolutions, new goals, new dreams, and aspirations, and you were eager to take them on head first. Do you see any similarities between the beginning of this year and the beginning of 2015?

This time last year you said, “it was going to be different”, you were going to make a change… However by February or March, your New Year resolution was sitting on the back burner and you haven’t made any progress since January. By July, you noticed how much time has went by and you remind yourself that you still have time to accomplish your resolutions. You just needed to adjust it a bit and you go at it with full enthusiasm. By September, life happens and you put your resolutions on the back-burner again (This is why I don’t like New Years Resolutions). By the time Halloween comes around, you looked up and you wonder where in the hell has the year gone. You figure there is only one solution to the problem and that is to call bankruptcy on your New Year’s resolution, give it all up and try again next year because all that you want to do is make it through the year all in one piece. By Christmas, you start to ponder about your New Year’s resolutions for 2016 and by New Year’s Eve, you’re ready to make the New Year your bitch… Do you see any similarities between the beginning of this year and the beginning of 2015?

This is what I call the “New Year’s Resolution Cycle… Are you reading this shaking your head because this is hitting too close to home? I know it’s hitting close to home because I’ve been in the same New Year’s Resolution Cycle with you year after year and I’m tired of it. What about you? Are you tired of feeling like you’re running on a hamster wheel? If the answer is yes, today I urge you to break the cycle, reconsider your resolutions, and try something different.

For 2016, instead of doing it big with grand resolutions, this year I’m doing it real small. Focus on achievable mini goals that you can measure every day, every week, and every month. See, it is easy to get caught up in the hype and set these huge goals. While these goals help you focus on your life and where we want to be. Getting started and staying consistent on these goals can be tricky and that’s why you fail. With our ever-evolving lives, the solution to this problem is to set incremental and achievable mini goals every day, every week, and every month. These mini goals will allow you to regularly accomplish something and stay focused on your next step in your journey.

Hopefully by sharing what my mini goals look like for 2016, it will give some inspiration for your mini goals. Here are my mini goals for 2016:

Every day

  • Do some sort of physical activity. Whether it’s running, walking, stretching, or dancing I am committed to doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Unless I am sick, I shouldn’t have any reason to be sedentary all day long.

Every week

  • Run at least 3 days. One of my 30 goals before 30 is to run another half marathon. To accomplish that goal, I will need to be running. Additionally, most half marathon training plans require that you run at least three times a week so I’m preparing myself to do the training.
  • Weigh myself only once. The scale can drive you bat shit crazy so I’m restricting myself to the scale once a week.

Every month

  • Run the race every month. Running races keeps me honest, it makes me have something to forward to during times of low. There’s something about the race environment that keeps me inspired and fills me with joy. I want to have that feeling as much as I possibly can.

So there you have it my mini goals for 2016. What do you think about them? What are your thoughts on going small for 2016? What are your plans to break the resolution cycle? Leave a comment below.

Until next time, keep crushing goals!

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