The new year brings about feelings of revolution in our lives. Two Thousand and Twenty-Two is behind us. Along with all of the time, energy, and emotions we devoted to progressing ourselves last year, those remnants of time become water under the bridge. As we dust the debris of last year off our shoulders, the popular new year’s theme of motivation produces a path to a new frontier of laying plans to achieve big audacious goals for 2023. Along with capitalizing on financial logistics, obtaining new skills to support our careers, or improving our interpersonal relationships, one topic commonly hitting the New Year’s resolution wish list is self-care.
Losing weight, getting more sleep, or weaning off caffeine are a few examples of common goals to refine wellness. As much as these goals contribute to substantial benefits to human productivity and adequately enjoying life, sometimes people can enter the tactics required to obtain these goals in a state of reluctancy.
Let’s take a trip back to our years as seniors in high school. I’m sure we can recall one of the most challenging teachers who seemed to be in emotional rapture after handing out in-class reading assignments of Catcher in the Rye; no offense to J.D. Salinger. Catcher in the Rye was one of my favorite books that developed my love for reading and writing. But in my last year of high school, itching to graduate and never set foot on a high school campus again, sitting down at a desk and reading a book wasn’t at the top of my list of priorities. After the teacher administered this mind-numbing, dry as a bone assignment, he exited the room and left the students to their own devices with the trust that the chapter would be complete. We were expected to regurgitate the pertinent lessons this critical reading assignment offered our lives upon his return. Did we read that chapter when the teacher walked out of the door? Nope. My fellow students and I flung the Salinger’s masterpiece over our shoudlers, turned to our favorite classmate, and began chatting about where the next raging party was after Friday graced us with its presence.
The same feeling of irritable inconvenience my adolescent classmates and I experienced when given an in-class reading assignment can be related to the tactics required to accomplish our new year’s health and wellness goals. Sure, new year deals at local gyms, small group fitness classes, and personal training services offer spectacular value. However, if we resent the actual activity, the likelihood of executing the actions taken to achieve these goals significantly decreases. Supporting a plan in which the user views the activity as a mundane, undesirable task makes accomplishing these new year goals challenging.
To counteract these feelings of being pressured into improving our health because we have to, it helps to remember a few helpful tips to adhere to exercise without feeling like you’re walking over hot coals to accomplish your health and wellness tactics.
Pick modes of exercise you enjoy: Do you want to spend five hours a week in Planet Fitness utilizing their state-of-the-art exercise machines and running on treadmills? If the answer is yes, that sounds like a great solution. However, if the thought of being surrounded by individuals in a large setting terrifies you, then don’t do it. If you like hiking, Yoga, Pilates, or Salsa Dancing, then those activities could be fitness topics to focus time and energy. Exercise doesn’t have to be undesirable. Our community offers plenty of fun and engaging avenues to reinforce our health and wellness.
Look forward to something: Recreational sports and local activities have leagues and classes offered once a week. Developing a schedule to attend activities you look forward to an established amount of times per week makes completing these tasks enjoyable. If we look forward to something and develop a sense of excitement to attend a bout of physical activity, the effort to clear our schedule and spend the time and energy to attend seems less complicated.
Have a reason: Embracing exercise as a gift to allow our bodies to perform pain-free and efficiently throughout our lives is an excellent reason to adhere to an regimented fitness routine. Getting down on the ground to play with our grandkids, hoisting our kids in our arms after they win their first baseball game, or being healthy and strong to show our friends and family we can support them is a gift they can’t buy.
Redefining our eating habits, exercise consistency, and other elements of self-care offer life-enhancing benefits; offering us a healthy and strong new year. However, a significant amount of effort must be allocated toward the tasks required to the success of our goals. Therefore, find routines that you look forward to providing us with a realistic scenario of victory in our goals.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
Spell out when starting a sentence with the year
