New Beginnings at Easter

Easter is a time of new beginnings. Most people wait for New Year’s Eve to make a resolution and change something in their life. The truth is, I rarely make New Year’s resolutions in January. Firstly I have the mindset of a new year beginning in September not January and secondly I don’t like the pressure to grab the first thing that sounds like it may vaguely impress when posted on social media or announced at 12:01am whilst swept up in an emotional tornado.

When I do make resolutions there is a great deal of thought and planning that goes into them. I never call them a resolution either. Personally this has negative connotations for me. For me a resolution is something that you quickly snatch at, with no real intention of sticking to, and fully intend to have quit by mid-January. Completely guilt free safe in the knowledge that this is the socially acceptable thing to do. No one approaches you in March asking what your resolution was and how it’s going.

I don’t know about you but I feel like my life has literally been on hold for the past year.

I was not one of those people that changed their life during lockdown and has emerged with new skills or a new body. Actually, my body has undergone a transformation during this past year but definitely not one that I wanted! #comforteating

I was one of those people who went into survival mode. I wasn’t looking forward, I wasn’t planning for the future I had my blinkers on and was just focusing on surviving the minute, hour and day and then repeated that process for basically a whole year. What a waste!

Rather than dwelling on the fact that I have wasted a whole year that I will never be able to get back I am now ready to look forward and ensure that I squeeze all of the juice and fun out of the next year or so.

The time frame isn’t really that important for me. When I look to make a change I like to think big. I like to think about the big change in the future which currently seems very unobtainable. I then start working backwards. I start to think about the steps I would need to get to that ultimate goal. I keep working backwards until I end up where I am currently. It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as I am moving in the right direction.

One of my new goals is to focus on my body and being in better shape after abusing my body with junk food and barely moving from a chair all day long. I am sure there are going to be many people emerging from lockdown with a similar interest to improve their body. While this is a worthwhile area to work on, if I only left it here with a vague wishy washy general idea there is no way I would follow through. For a start the end goal isn’t very clear and nor is what I will gain from it.

In order to ensure I follow through the next thing I focus on is why. I like to list all of the gains as small and insignificant or vain as they seem. Your goals are for you. Therefore they have to make sense to you and inspire you, not someone else.

Some of my reasons for wanting to improve my body are:

• Better energy levels so I can play with my kids more.

• To save money by not having to buy a whole new wardrobe because nothing fits!

• To feel proud that I am in the best condition/shape that I can be in.

• To live a longer and healthier life.

• Support my mental health.

Once I have my whys I need to think about what this looks like. How will I know I have met my goal? What progress markers will I see along the way?

My goal is to have a 6 pack. Just to clarify I’m talking about muscles, not beers or biscuits! I’ve never had a 6 pack or even been remotely close so being able to achieve this will feel like a massive achievement. To obtain a 6 pack I am going to have to focus on what I am putting into my body and will therefore need to think about nourishing my body with my diet. Of course a 6 pack is muscle so I will need to do a form of exercise that will build up my muscles. You can have a 6 pack by working the muscles but you only get to SEE it if you have the right ratio of body fat so some general weight loss will need to be factored in as well.

A 6 pack is not a new-fangled invention. Therefore there are lots of people who have been on this journey before me. They know how to get a 6 pack and have shared what they did. A quick google search will give me all that I need to know in order to achieve a 6 pack for free from the comfort of my own home.

To avoid falling into the trap of setting a goal that I never look at again, let alone work on to achieve, I need to have a way of ensuring this stays at the forefront of my mind on a regular basis.

As I am a very visual person I will save an image of a 6 pack onto my phone as the screen saver. Each time I see the image, I will be reminded that this is what I am heading towards. That in turn reminds me of the daily steps that I need to take to reach my goal. Every morning when I roll over and stop my alarm the picture will be the first thing I see. This will remind me to get out of bed and do my new exercise routine. Once I have all of this in place I will regularly check in with what my steps are and how I am progressing.

Life is for living, not existing. We only get one shot. What goals are you going to set to ensure you don’t waste any more time?