Have you ever had a New Years resolution or set a goal only to look back a year later and realize that you didn’t achieve it?
Welcome to the club.
If this has happpened to you, don’t worry, you’re not broken, you don’t lack discipline and you’re definitely not a failure.
There‘s only one reason why any of us don’t complete what we set out to do…
Your WHY wasn‘t strong enough.
The bigger the goal, the stronger your why has to be.
So, if you have fallen prey to disappointment in yourself, labeling yourself as an under-achiever or if you’ve been telling yourself stories about how you “can never seem to do XYZ”, you can put that all to rest now.
There are many reasons to want something different for our lives and often ringing in a new year causes us to reflect. This is why New Years resolutions are so popular. But what mainstream media (the reason why resolutions are perpetuated) doesn’t tell you is that it’s hard to change.
Our brains love routine and will hold on tight to familiarity, making changing habits, therefore changing our results, very difficult. Instead of normalizing this, they want us to believe that we need their products in order to succeed because we supposedly can’t do it on our own.
Although programs, products or even coaching can 💯 help you to achieve your goals, if you don’t do it for the right reasons, there’s very little chance you will succeed, even with their help. In fact, some companies are even betting on it (hello multi-billion dollar weight loss industry).
You need leverage, a very big why, to bypass your brains need for the safety that comes with repetition.
If your why for wanting to succeed is external, like if you want it for improving how others will perceive you, it will most likely not be enough to get you through the rocky patches that are necessary for lasting change.
You have to want it more than you what you have now.
The perceived pain of staying the same has to be greater than the perceived pain of the changes that you need to make.
For instance, I am working on my health and fitness for 2022, I have committed to 365 days of working out and healthier eating.
I’ve done this in the past, lost weight and exercised regularly but, because it was for either a beach vacation 👙 or to wear a dress on stage for a big event, I’ve consistently gained the weight back and stopped working out regularly.
The couch was just more comfy and pizza and chocolate are hard to resist on a regular basis.
My reason now is not about losing weight for that bikini, it’s so that I can live a long life with energy and health. More specifically, I want my 80 year old self to look back at the changes I’m making now and be overwhelmed with pride and appreciation.
When I envision that scenario, it’s enough to make me cry.
And if you have something that you want to accomplish and it’s important to you, then that’s what you need as well…
A why that makes you cry 😭
And then you need to keep revisiting that beautiful vision of your future, that’s what will help tip you into action.
And the great news is, once you have that momentum and have created a new habit, you’re golden. Hello next level you!
So what would you like to change for 2022 and beyond? But more importably, WHY?
🤍 your coach
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