To me, “New year, new me” is an excuse and an overwhelming cliché. I can’t help but laugh at that statement. Every second is a new second, minute, hour, day, week, month… Why can’t you make a “new you” once you realize that you want to? The more you put it off, the longer it’s going to take you to commit and go through with your ‘goals’.
Now, this is coming to you from the Princess of Procrastination. Trust me, the Princess of Procrastination tale not like the Disney fairytales we all know and love. But learn from my (many) mistakes. Changing takes time, perseverance and dedication.
With 2016 knocking on our doors, don't just talk the talk. You gotta walk the walk, too. Anyone can say they have New Year’s Resolutions and ‘goals’. But how many of us forget about them? Personally, I found out that I lose sight of long term ‘goals’ and New Year’s Resolutions too easily.
If you notice, I keep putting ‘goals’ in quotes. I actually hate that word for this. A goal to me is Glendening shooting the puck and scoring top-shelf.
What helps me is making a weekly or monthly plan with certain objectives; a to do list, if you will. With a short amount of time to achieve a personal or professional objective, it gets my competitive spirit in the game. And, let me tell you, checking off an objective on my to do list is the best feeling ever. Put it in Sharpie so it’s permanent. Crossing off attending all Red Wings games in 2016 will feel so much more satisfying doing so in permanent ink than a Number 2 pencil.
Don’t over-sell yourself. Make your dreams into plans, but also make them feasible. No, I’m sorry, you probably won’t become the next Pavel Datsyuk overnight. But what can you do month to month that’ll help you reach that dream in the future? Practice makes perfect, y’all.
To show I practice what I preach, one of my plans for the next couple of months is being able to run a 10k. Nothing big, mostly just around the neighborhood or on the treadmill at first. But hopefully this year I'll find the courage to sign up for one.
So, all of January will be dedicated to perfecting my breathing, pace and nailing my 5k to be perfect with the different altitude. I plan on running 3-4 times a week with weight lifting and, hopefully, a yoga class every now and then.
Here's to a happy, healthy New Year to you and yours! What's your plan of attack going to be for 2016?