Increase your chances of success by giving yourself a 60-day buffer.
“Most people will passively do exactly what they did last year. Whatever you do, don’t let that person be you.” — Richie Norton
It’s that time of the year again.
There often seems to be a love/hate relationship with a lot of people and this time of the year.
For some, it’s exciting to think about beginning the new year to build the best version of themselves. They think about all the negative habits they are going to give up and all of the new habits they are going to start.
For others, it is a somber reminder of all of the promises they made to themselves (and others) last year and how they didn’t follow through with many, if any, of them.
Remember how long Malcolm from sales kept mentioning your declaration to lose 30 lbs in 30 days to start the year in 2022? Which, in hindsight, was a little crazy, you have to admit.
For those looking to find a way to increase the chances of actually following through with all their forthcoming promises and not being pestered by mean-spirited co-workers for not living up to them, you should instead give yourself a 60-day buffer to start implementing them NOW to increase your chances of success.
There are a few reasons that this is true.
You’ll get a head start on all the other NYR’s (New Years Resolutioners) who have the same resolutions as you
This first reason is strictly related to any resolution that will involve working out at a gym.
It’s one of those practical reasons that most people don’t think about but when someone says it out loud, it just seems to make so much sense.
Everyone and their grandma is probably going to be saying the same “new year, new me” mantra come January 1st and will be in your favorite local gym using all the treadmills and equipment to prove they mean it.
This is one of the reasons that many of the full-year gym-goers simply loathe the beginning of the year.
The increase in the crowd makes it more difficult to be able to use different types of equipment and many people just don’t practice proper gym etiquette, like putting weights back or wiping off machines because they are just not aware.
For you, as a potential newbie yourself, it would be better to be in the gym during the last half of the year when the volume of people usually is lower based on individuals taking vacations or traveling for the holidays.
If you’re a novice, being able to learn how to use the equipment without the pressure of having so many people around you will probably make the experience much better and easier to adapt to overall, and taking away potential roadblocks is an important step in increasing your chance of success.
You give yourself time to figure out what will work and what doesn’t work.
This second reason is a big one to help with being able to ease into your commitment and adapting as you see fit.
Whenever you start something new, there is going to be an adjustment period in which you have to understand what is going to work for you and what isn’t.
One of the best ways to increase your chance of success is to start small and not ask a lot of yourself right out of the gates. This will allow you to make small adjustments as you see what works versus what doesn’t work.
Initially, people have the tendency to be rather hyped when doing something new and gung ho about doing whatever they can to see results quickly. This often leads to frustration and sometimes injury as the push to see results can sometimes lead to people overdoing it.
By giving yourself a buffer time to see what works and what doesn’t work, you prevent the chances of this happening to you. With this earlier start time, you can just ease into your resolution and not feel the pressure of trying to do too much too soon.
You give yourself time to figure out if you’re REALLY committed to this new goal.
This last reason is probably one of the most important reasons to give yourself the two-month buffer.
There’s nothing worse than going around and telling the entire office (or just Malcolm) all of your resolutions only to have to update them two months later that you changed your mind for this reason or that.
Oftentimes, our mind makes one commitment, but we really don’t know if we’re able to follow through with it until we truly experience what it’s like for our body to actually have to fulfill the commitment.
Often, when this happens and the philosophical “rubber meets the road,” we will know if we are willing to stick it out and make the commitment long-term or if perhaps we over-committed and do not see ourselves doing something for our initial dedicated length of time.
By trying some things out a bit earlier, you give yourself the chance to truly know if you are ready and willing to make whatever sacrifices are needed to be able to stick with your resolution.
As someone who has tried and failed at New Year’s resolutions in the past, when I started giving myself a 60-day buffer, this was a game-changer in me knowing which ones I would stay with come the new year and which ones just weren’t going to make the cut.
And while this doesn’t mean that you still won’t let a few resolutions fall by the wayside come January 30th, at least you know which ones you can share with the office (or just Malcolm) to make them eat their words.