Make 2024 your year to GLOW UP!
I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s “resolutions”, the main reason being that most people drop their resolutions after just a couple of weeks!
On the other hand, I can’t deny that there’s a distinct energy in the air in early January, an excitement about what’s to come. You might be taking stock of how things are going in your health and life, feel a new spark of motivation to make changes for the better, and harbor a newfound belief in your ability to get things done.
What’s the problem? Amongst all the excitement of the new year, the intense spurt of motivation, and the desire for a new life, most people will set resolutions that are unrealistic, or don’t have a solid plan attached to them, or will take longer than expected to achieve.
Soon enough, motivation wanes, you stop taking action, and you’re back at square one.
But what if this year you did things a little differently?
In this post I’m giving you a simple template for creating change in your health in 2024. Real change that’s sustainable.
No, I’m not sharing the “secret” to fat loss forever or a stress-free life. Just a straightforward strategy to get you seeing results, staying positive, and moving forward.
But First- Why you can’t rely on motivation
Motivation is a funny thing. On the one hand, you do need it to create change. At the beginning of any health journey, the thing that gets you to make tough decisions, change your diet, start exercising, quit smoking, etc… it’s always a spark of motivation. You must WANT to change. In fact, as a coach this is something I look for when I’m meeting with a potential client for the first time: does this person want to change, and do they have a strong motivation for doing so?
However, motivation will only get you so far. It ebbs and flows and you can’t rely on it to get you to do tough things because, to be honest, a lot of the time you won’t feel like it.
Example: there are days when I’m PUMPED to work out. I’m feeling high energy, I’ve got a podcast episode I’m dying to listen to, and I’m longing for the solitude of the gym and getting my workout done. But to be perfectly honest, most days I don’t feel like that. But I go to the gym anyways.
What gets me to do things I don’t feel like doing is habit. Showing up. Not worrying about if it’s perfect, and just getting it done.
Sometimes my workouts are great. Sometimes they’re not. And sometimes I don’t make it to the gym, but I move my body in some other way- like taking a walk or going for a surf.
Consistency beats intensity and perfection any day of the week. And it’s what produces results in your health and life. Maybe that sounds boring, but it’s the truth. With a consistent habit, you don’t need to rely on motivation- a feeling that comes and goes. Instead, you show up and rely on routines that you’ve crafted to fit easily into your life.
Next, let’s talk about how you can put this insight into practice.
My Template for Lasting Change
How do you create change in the year ahead and make 2024 your time for a glow up? (btw I love that phrase, glow up. Smiling as I write it). Get out a pen and paper. Here are the steps.
Step 1: Assess your past year
What went GREAT the past year? What are you grateful for? Write that all down and revel in it. Even if you felt the past year was a total sh$t show, do this part.
Next, reflect on what didn’t go so great and what you wish had gone better or that you’d done differently. Write all that down. (But try not to beat yourself up about it. You’re just taking stock of where you’re at so you can get clearer on where you want to go.)
Step 2: Choose ONE game-changing goal for this year
You’ve looked over the past year. Next you’re going to choose ONE goal for this year. Make sure it excites you and it’s realistic (do-able). Be honest with yourself here. Yes, it’s great to push yourself past your comfort zone, but you do want to see and feel success (because it’s one of those things that’ll keep you moving forward!).
Your goal could be a habit, a feeling you want to cultivate, or an outcome you want to achieve. Examples:
Habit: Walk 10k steps daily.
Feeling: Be more present when I’m with my kids/ partner.
Outcome: Lose 10 lbs.
Step 3: Identify ONE simple step that’ll move you closer to your goal
You may have chosen a goal that requires multiple steps that you’d need to take over time. Maybe those steps would build upon one another. That’s ok! Here I just want you to dial in on ONE single step you can take to move yourself closer to your goal. Make it simple and do-able. Something you can do today and have immediate success at. And ideally something that you’d do on a daily basis- so you can build that muscle of just showing up and being consistent.
Example of how you might do this: Sleep
Wouldn’t we all love to sleep as soundly as a cat?
Let’s say you’ve reflected on your past year and what you really want to do is prioritize sleep. You’d like 8 hours of good sleep each night. But right now you’re having trouble falling asleep and you’re waking up in the middle of the night for hours. You’re very motivated to take action!
Now let’s be honest, there are a ton of action steps you can take here- so many, in fact, that it can feel quite overwhelming. For example:
You could improve your “sleep hygiene”.
You could stay off screens after 7pm and get some blue light blockers.
You could make some targeted changes to your diet and time you eat.
You could try adaptogenic herbs or magnesium.
You could focus on getting up early and getting morning sun exposure.
You could make sure you’re getting movement every day.
You could eliminate or cut down on caffeine.
And I could go on…
So here’s the task: CHOOSE ONE that you think will move the needle the most in brining you closer to your goal.
If this were me, I’d choose to get up early and get outside into the sunlight for 15 minutes. Research shows that this helps to reset the circadian rhythm (your internal ‘body clock’) and that practiced regularly, you’ll feel sleepy 12-16 hours later. In other words, that would be my assessment as to what action step would be easiest for me to accomplish and would give me a big “return on investment”.
Some of the habits above will be more of a game changer than others, but the point is to choose something and to do it consistently.
Why this works so well
By starting with a simple action step and doing it consistently, you’ll:
a) start seeing some small results,
b) feel increased confidence as you observe that you really can stick to something and show up for yourself every day, and
c) you’ll maintain your motivation and want to add in additional habits over time that will bring you closer to your goal.
You see, positive change begets positive change. I see this all the time- a client starts with one small action step. If could be as simple as drinking a glass of lemon water as soon as you wake up in the morning. After a couple of weeks of consistency, motivation sparks to add on something else. And now you’ve got momentum.
This is how change actually happens. It’s how you grow and glow in 2024!
In sum:
Assess where you’ve been and where you want to go.
Prioritize a goal.
Choose an action step- and take consistent action.
If you could use a little support in figuring out how to do this for yourself, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
And… I’d love to hear what goals and action steps you’re working on. Post a comment below!
