New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work – Start Today!

Black Friday isn’t just the kick-off of the Holiday shopping season it is also the kick-off of a period where most of us completely destroy our health. Extra stress, tighter budgets, more social commitments and less sleep are among some of the common challenges we are all about to deal with. Add to that a consistent string of opportunities to indulge in high-calorie Christmas specialty drinks, seasonal candies galore, and lots of grossly overdone portion sizes and you have a recipe for physical disaster.

And I’m already hearing the infamous “come January 1^st I’m going back on my diet” which is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If you wait till January 1^st you’re going to need to double diet just to make up for the havoc you’ll wreak on your body in the next 4 weeks. Don’t do that! Instead, start your New Year’s Resolutions today!

New Year’s Resolutions don’t work because of the law of diminishing intent. We all start off well-intentioned but it slowly starts to fade. And it’s not because we’re bad people it’s just because the secret to keeping a new resolution is to keep it NEW every day. In other word’s New Year’s Resolutions can’t work; only NEW DAY’s resolutions work.

It is the new-nesss associated with a resolution that makes it work for a while. So it makes no difference when it is made; it only makes a difference how recently the resolution was made- which is why you have to make a new resolution each day about any change you want to make in your life.

If you’ve heard my Take the Stairs speech then you’ll remember The Rent Axiom that says:

“Success is never owned, it is only rented; and the rent is due every day.”

It applies here in the form of what Albert Gray said years ago which is that “any resolution that you make today must again be made tomorrow.”

You can still enjoy the pleasures of the Holidays as long as you keep mindful intention.

An unresolved mind will eat and drink all indulgences that come into its path but a resolved mind will temper what it allows into its body.

A resolved mind might pass on the donuts at the office and reward itself with a slice of cheesecake at the party or an extra big portion on Christmas Eve dinner. As with all self-discipline, the message isn’t to constantly deny yourself but rather to be mindful of what you do and don’t allow yourself to have.

So don’t wait to start your resolution on New Year’s because there isn’t anything special about that day. If you wait then the only thing that will happen is you’ll set yourself 4 weeks back (and really probably more since the next 4 weeks can be brutal on you). Start today and reinforce your resolutions every day by reviewing your goals, creating added accountability, and reminding yourself about why it matters to you to follow through on the change.

Trust me on this. Start your New Year’s Resolution today and on January 1^st you’ll thank me.

See you in the stairwell,

Rory Vaden
Take the Stairs – Success means doing things you don’t