So here we are again, about to approach that magical day on the calendar where all of a sudden, like as if unicorns just appear, the probability of us achieving anything we say we’re going to do, is multiplied by 100.
It’s the same mindset of only starting something of a Monday.. it’s like, “what the hell’s wrong with Thursday?”
Everybody does it, or has done it before, and unfortunately it often doesn’t work, and it’s because we are forming our strategy on the thought that we’re going to be motivated, and we assume all the stars will be magically aligned on that particular day.
However most people fail to take effective action, and the key to following through on anything you set yourself is taking action within 24hours. Like physically doing something right then and there. Waiting until January 1st to start a new fitness regime that you’re talking about today only removes responsibility, momentum, accountability and for most the chance to actually follow through.
But anyway, I wasn’t writing this blog to drill you about why New years Resolutions don’t work, the reason I share the points above is to show just how good most people are at setting goals.
Most of us know the SMART method, or the fact that your goals need to be rather specific, have some kind of way they can be measured and some kind of end date, that’s the basics right. But even though many of us do this first step really really well why do so some people still struggle to actually achieve what they write down?
It’s a simple as this, although setting big goals is vital, it’s not the most important thing. Setting big goals is like dropping a pin on a map, it gives you some kind of direction and purpose. But what really sets those who succeed apart from those who don’t is the ability to set really good rituals and then follow through on them.
That’s it, if you want to achieve anything, you need to commit to the rituals required to achieving it.
It’s like if you want to run an ultra marathon there’s certain rituals you need to follow day in day out to achieve it right? Or if you want to save to buy a house, you need to commit to the ritual of saving each week, I mean what would happen if you only saved when you felt like it? Or you only ate well, did your recovery, and actually ran when you felt like it? Would you have the house? would you be able to run the ultra marathon?
See we get so caught up on the initial step, and put all our energy into this, vision boards, goal setting sessions, accountability buddies, coaches. Now all these things are vital, and do assist. But if you don’t make the commitment to the daily rituals needed to achieve what you want, you will continue to have challenges and struggles staying on track.
Daily rituals just need to be simple and achievable, because it’s the consistency of achieving these day in day out that help you continue to move forward.
Here’s an example of mine, and I’m happy for you to steal it until you create your own.
Here’s what I aim to do every single day.
1: Get up at the same time, have a 10sec cold shower
2: Get dressed (would be awkward if I missed this step)
3: Have my vitamins and fill up my water bottle
4: Pack my training gear
5: Head out the door, jump into the car and listen to some music on my way to work.
By achieving this in the morning, it puts me into a peak state ready to take on the day. if there’s a morning where I skip this (which happens occasionally) or wake up too late I feel rushed and struggle with focus for most part of the day.
So this year, rather than focusing on setting New year Resolutions and massive goals I urge you to set new year rituals and focus most of your energy on achieving these.
Coach Brad
