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Did you know 80% of people have already given up on their dreams of things being different in 2024? Yep! Only two weeks into the year, by the second Friday in January, most of us have already abandoned our New Year’s goals. It’s so real, it’s got a name: Quitters Day.
People have fallen off the wagon of dry January. They’ve ghosted the gym or yoga classes. They have fallen back into old and familiar patterns. Why?! Because it takes a lot of practice to change a habit like at least 30 to 60 days. And it’s hard for the brain to unlearn a pattern of behavior.
You could stay in bed and be late for school…and why make the bed at all?!
You may as well have another cookie…You deserve it, right?
Why bother with the details of the homework assignment when you know you can get away without doing it?
Why not waste a bunch of time eating/watching/scrolling/thinking/shopping/gossiping? It’s fun, right? No real harm…
Except when you break your promises to yourself, you don’t feel good. It feels horrible; but you’re not bad, weak, or hopeless. You just need more reps. Repetition is key.
Doing the right thing — by you for you — even when it’s easy not to — IS the muscle.
Keeping your promises to yourself builds trust in YOU because if you don’t trust you, no one else can trust you either. It builds your resilience and your confidence.
Being consistent is the hardest thing to do. How can it work? Mindfulness. Whatever it is you are trying to do — or not do, hits a decision making point. The power is in the pause so you can make a conscious decision of what BEST serves you. And it’s rarely your first impulse.
STOP! Wait for the angst to settle. Then make the best decision. FOMO turns into JOMO. We spend more quality time and attention on the routines, events, and resources that TRULY move us upward.
If you’ve fallen off in the past days or weeks, GET BACK ON! Start over. It’s 100% okay. Reaching our biggest goals does not require perfection, only progress. The secret is to keep getting BACK up. Again, and again, and again.
P.S. Come to yoga with the fam. It’s healthy fun!