Seeing People In Action WIth Their New Year Resolutions

On January 1st on my way to and from the gym I saw two clear examples of people making good on their New Year Resolutions.

It makes me so happy that people not only say they want to be better but they’re actually doing something about it! 

Please note that I didn’t speak to these people about their goals so a lot of this is based on assumptions… But in observing these two examples, I came to the same conclusion about their chances for success, which is the same reason why most New Year Resolutions fail.

Here are the examples:

On my way out, a neighbor around the corner looked like they were having a full on yard sale. Their garage was torn apart, their car was in the driveway with all doors open, and a couple was working hard organizing their things. 

My assumption was that their New Year Resolution is to get more organized. It had clearly already been a long day as the man slowly struggled moving storage boxes in the front yard, but nonetheless they were making progress. And that’s the thing - you can use will power and motivation to take massive action in a single day and put a pretty good dent into things. 

But my question becomes - What are they doing about their own habits and tendencies that caused their life to get disorganized? While they can get things organized in a day, staying organized requires a different set of action steps.

Now for the second group, on my way back from the gym I saw a couple going for a walk and based on the appearance of it, it seemed like they didn’t do it often. It appeared as though perhaps they had set a New Year Resolution to be more active and they were making good on that.

Getting out the door and going for a walk doesn’t require the same amount of effort as cleaning out a garage… But getting consistent with going for a walk is about the same as staying organized after you’ve cleaned up. Both are proactive, ongoing practices that most people aren’t prepared for. 

New Year Resolutions are notorious for people who get started but don’t stick with it. And the reason is… You can use will power and motivation to take action once, but you can’t rely on it to take action consistently.

Showing up as your ‘new you’ is hard to do when you still feel like your ‘old you’, and you’re still operating in the same environment you used to be in.

Maybe you’ve experienced that yourself.

Real progress is made over time, which means you need to keep showing up day in and day out. 

Whether it’s the New Year or not, the opportunity is the same. You can choose to change your life right now. But your effort won’t be nearly as effective or long-lasting if you don’t build the foundation behind the scenes that supports it. That’s exactly what the 21 Day Super Habits Challenge does!