Set and achieve your 2022 goals. I expect big things from you this year.
Oath & Grind promotes perennial resolutions. Ones that last all year long because we make an oath to ourselves and commit to the grind it takes to get there. In the season of new beginnings, I want to remind you that New Year's resolutions matter! You can only achieve your goals when you take intentional steps towards them. Here are a few tips to help you set and achieve your 2022 goals. I expect big things from you this year.
I encourage you to choose one or two resolutions that will make a difference in your life or in the life of someone around you. Choose something big, something that you can passionately stand behind with a solid reason of why you want to make this change. When it gets rough in the next coming months, weeks, or—let's be honest—days, you can come back to this "why." For example, if you decide you want to lose weight, be a little bit more specific with your reasonings. "I want to lose weight so that I can better keep up with my kids and grandkids and be in good health late into life." Those early mornings, dragging yourself out of bed and into the gym, will become a little bit more bearable since you now know you are doing this for a better life for you and your family.
Unfortunately, just finding our "why" doesn't always stick with us. We need to return back and renew our motivation after a little bit of time. Write down your resolutions and your reasons. Keep them somewhere safe or even carry them around with you. Re-reading and re-discovering your beginning-of-the-year passion can help re-ignite your diligence to saying "no" to an afternoon smoke and "yes" to an afternoon run.
Remember that nothing important can get done alone—or at least done well. Choose one person or a group of people to encourage you in your good decisions and support you when you feel close to making poor ones. Find someone who finds solace in the 6am sprints. Someone who can knock on your door and pull you out bed when you need it. Not only will you be far more likely to stick with your goal, but you will also enjoy the process and endure the pain with a trusted friend.
Do you know how long it took to find yourself in this unhealthy habit? Years, probably. It won't take days to undo. Not even close, my dear. So be patient with yourself and lower the expectation of perfection. Lower them at least to the point where you don't see yourself as a failure when you reach for a cigarette or a cinnamon roll. It's a step to the side, but not backwards. Not if you don't want it to be. You have made a commitment to yourself to work towards this goal. It might be a roller coaster of a journey, but when you step back, you will see how far you have come.
Did you make it through January without a sip of alcohol? Did you exercise all five days that you planned to this week? Did you lose five pounds in two months? These accomplishments are worth celebrating! Don't let the small successes go by un-celebrated or unseen. These are big steps towards your goal. These are profound achievements because they are adding up all of the small decisions that you have to make every day. Give yourself a much-deserved pat on the back.