Need Inspiration? My Favorite Video This Week.

As February comes to a close, I assess my first several weeks of 2012.

Have I kept my New Year’s resolutions?
Am I on track for making this my “best year ever”?

Like so many things the answer is both yes and no. Not like when I was in my teens and 20s, the older I get the more I come to understand life isn’t black and white. Life is gray. Sometimes it is so gray, it is as hard to see through as a London fog.

Every year I make resolutions and every year I never follow through. Typically by the end of two weeks my self-improvement plans are long gone. Not only out of sight – they are out of mind.

I’m pleased to report that this has been my “best year ever” for keeping my resolutions. I tried something different. I kept it simple, no resolutions but a resolution. One resolution, and a wish list.

I decided I would walk for at least one mile everyday. After a couple of weeks it became clear that if I was going to keep my new life style change I would need to make some adjustments. Adapting is key. I needed to make it work for me. Based on where I was starting from (injuries and chronic pain) everyday was an unrealistic expectation. I adjusted my goal to 5 times a week. It worked! I then came up with what perhaps was the second best thing for my continued success. When I missed a day instead of feeling like I failed again, or when I was sick and didn’t exercise for over a week instead of telling myself that I broke my resolution and might as well just quit – instead I began to tell myself, “Self, this is just a minor set back”. Subtle changes I know, but somehow it has made a huge difference. Now since I think of my transgressions as a minor set back as opposed to failure, I am able to get up the next day and get back to walking.

I also found this, and when I’m feeling like I don’t want to do it anymore and what’s the point… I watch. Yesterday I walked 3 miles, and I started a modest run walk interval training program. At this rate I will be able to start tackling my wish list.
I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.