Another (Red) Face (and puffed out chest) in the Crowd

As I post this, Cindy and I just finished our second gym workout of the new year. We went at an odd time earlier in the week so the crowd of Resolutioners that we had anticipated wasn’t there. That said, there were certainly more people milling around that we would have seen at that same time on a day in November or December… But at 6:30a on the first Wednesday morning in January, there were more than a few new faces. And many of those new faces will be red since it was likely just their second or third time inside a gym in who knows how long… Make no mistake though, that didn't keep many of them from having a puffed out chest after they showed us all how awesome their bench press was!

By early February though, the herd will have thinned a bit. And by March 1, we’ll be back to business as usual…

Don’t get me wrong, I get really excited when I see anyone take a proactive approach to managing their health. I also know all too well how easy it can be to miss a day here or there in a new routine and fall completely off the wagon before you’ve ever had a chance to create a new habit, so I’m definitely not throwing stones. (If they’re just there to be seen and get in the way, I may consider a stone or two though…)

So here’s the point: in digging through some articles to put this post together, I found one from Forbes in February 2020 that stated “Every year more than 50% of people make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, save money, get a promotion, get a raise, and more. And yet, virtually every study tells us that around 80% of New Year’s resolutions will get abandoned this month (February).”

Why does this matter to me or you? Quite honestly, I don’t believe the real issue is exclusive to New Year’s resolutions. But since it’s that time of year, I believe it’s as good a time as any to dig into the root cause of so many of our failures.

In the LinkedIn article I published earlier this week, Consistent Commitment Beats a Flash in the Pan, I touched on how so many people set huge goals that require tremendous effort. They start out strong, and often see solid results, but get completely derailed when even the smallest life issue hits and causes them to direct their attention back to all the other responsibilities they had pushed aside to give that goal everything they’ve got…

In the next post, I’ll share what’s been my cryptonite nearly every time I’ve tried to make major changes to my diet. And as we work through more on this idea, we’ll look at some simple things we can each apply to get huge results - over the long haul. Until then, I want to give you a heads up on two new complementary resources we’re offering through our Intentional Action For Ongoing Growth brand… If you need continuing education credits at no cost or are just looking for a webinar with tools you can apply immediately in your leadership development journey, check what we’re hosting on Friday, January 15 here. If you’d get value for a digital resource you can access at any time that will have new professional development content added weekly, do yourself a favor and set up an account in the course Cindy just launched!