New Year, New Goals

Well it's that time again to accept that the holidays are over, get back to regular life and set some new goals for the upcoming year. Many new year's resolutions end in failure, sadly, but we can fix that. Before rushing into the coming year and your goals, make sure you take a moment to acknowledge what you've accomplished last year, no matter how big or small, and what is working well for you in your life right now. With a little reflection, you can set some more realistic and achievable goals for the new year that can improve your life. Sharing your resolutions with friends and family always helps. Just that can create an informal accountability that can help you stick to your guns. With the right perspective and support network you can do great things in the coming year, so don't quit. Also be precise and specific with your goals. If they're vague, they won't happen. It's that simple. Tell yourself exactly what you want for yourself and set some kind of timeline, which can help you develop an action plan. An example of being too vague is when your only resolution is to eliminate something. "I want to lose weight" or "I want to cut down on junk food" are good examples goals that aren't really goals. Be honest about exactly what you want, in this case give yourself a realistic amount of weight you want to lose and by when. Achieving your goals and fulfilling resolutions is a great feeling and you owe it to yourself know that first hand.

Year in Review
So before we dive into the new year of possibilities, it's important to reflect on the things we accomplished in the last year. Writing this blog on a weekly basis was one of my goals that I was able to accomplish this year. With the support of the feedback I've been getting from people who read and a little bit of discipline, I was able to cross this one off my list. I did have a weight loss goal that I was able to complete as well, but only because I was very specific and added behavioral habits to my daily routine that helped me get there. By quitting my bar job, training everyday and living a more organized routine, I was able to achieve my ideal weight and develop a very positive change of lifestyle in the meantime! In this case, the side effect has become more rewarding that the actual goal.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Just because it's a new year and we have new goals, doesn't mean that we should neglect what we have in our lives now and what's working well. Without acknowledging the good stuff, we might make goals or resolutions that could hinder our progress. Take some time to appreciate what habits are working out best for you and build around that. Instead of replacing those, base your goals on what you can change in your bad habits and what would compliment your good ones. With a little momentum, bigger goals become more achievable. One of my favorite quotes from Lao-tzu illustrates this well: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step."

For myself, training from monday to friday is something that can not be compromised in any way. This is something that I'm happy to be doing and am getting great results from so all resolutions for 2012 will have to compliment this.

Resolutions
My resolutions are mostly career-related this year. I've made an inventory of the habits and routines that are contributing to the life I want for myself, I've taken last years accomplishments and made them the new standard for myself and now it's time to add to that momentum. Training full time is working out well, so that can't be compromised. I would like to teach more in the new year, but that has to be worked around my training schedule, not replace it. I'm very happy writing this blog every week and greatly enjoy the feedback from everyone who reads this, so another resolution is to maintain this blog and write more articles about fitness and martial training in other places and publications. I'm adding to what works, not replacing or eliminating these parts of my life. 
So having considered what we accomplished and taking some time to evaluate our lives now, we can realistically consider what we can add to the mix to improve our life or career or relationships. People often fail at their resolutions because they are all about eliminating things from their lives, but we should be rewarding ourselves with habits and goals that can lead us to the lifestyle we deserve. Don't beat yourself up when considering your resolutions. It's not the time to make an inventory of what you don't like about yourself, it's time to admit that you deserve what you want. With the right action plan and perspective we can all cross these items off our list. After all, we have all year to work on it. Don't reinforce what you don't want, but give yourself more of the things that make you happy. Kick some ass this year.


Jordan Bill
Fight or Die


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