As we start 2023, it’s an easy time to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the next. It’s natural. It’s a changing of seasons and we all feel it. Lots of people set out their New Year’s Resolutions. But how many of you have seen the headlines about “Why New Year’s Resolutions Always Fail” or “Don’t Wait Til January” or just the general population’s dissension towards “resolutioners”?
We tear them down. It may not be intentional, but by telling people that goal setting is bad, or pointing out that 147% of resolutioners fail within the first week, that’s tearing someone down. Culturally, we are so quick to judge and disagree with someone, we might actually be the reason they stop!
Coach The Positive
Here at CrossFit OYL when we train our coaches, one of our guiding principles is the “coach the positive”. This is simply instructing the client what you want them to do instead of telling them what not to do. If you’re a baseball player and you go up to bat thinking “don’t miss, don’t miss, don’t miss”, you are way more likely to miss. Same for when we are coaching fitness athletes. If we tell someone “don’t bend your elbows” during a snatch pull, their brain turns on to thinking about bending their elbows. Instead, we would say “keep your arms straight”.
Let’s go back to the squad of New Year Resolution’ers. If we tell them how likely they are to fail with their goals, or just be critical in general about their use of the New Year to get on track, we are reminding them of all the negative aspects of goal setting and resolutions.
Instead, we want to encourage people. “Good for you! You’re making a change!” is way better than “Well, you do know people usually fail within the first 2 weeks.” Which one would you rather someone tell you?
Overcoming Inertia & Gaining Momentum
Inertia is the physics principle that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. And likewise, an object in motion will stay in motion unless an outside force interferes. Therefore, if an object is at rest, it takes much more energy to put that object into motion than it does to keep it going. Pushing a stalled car is the easy example here. Getting started is the hardest, but once it’s rolling, it takes significantly less effort to keep it rolling.
So when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions, we want to get excited for people who have made the initial, difficult step to overcome their resting inertia. They are in motion, so let’s keep them in motion! Who are we to judge what time of year it is or if we agree that this random angle of the earth in it’s rotation around the sun is the best time to start something new or not. Who are we?
Instead, let’s use this momentum gained by our friends or family. Let’s help them continue to “roll forward” with their goals and aspirations. Let’s use this excited energy of the New Year to encourage, not discourage.
Be the light in someone’s fitness journey, not the darkness!
What To Do About Your New Year’s Resolutions
If part of your 2023 goals or New Year’s Resolutions involve your health and fitness, we’d love to know how we can help you here at CrossFit OYL. Simple select a time slot below to schedule a free No Sweat Intro where you’ll sit down with our Head Coach and discuss your goals and which of our programs would be best for you!
