Practice for the New Year
The weeks before and after the new year are practice for what lies ahead
“Everything we do is practice for something greater than where we currently are. Practice only makes for improvement.”
— Les Brown
Every day is practice for the next. So whether you have always crushed your new year’s goals or you’re struggling even to set one, hope can change everything.
We must hope for better along the way. I believe our lives here are preparing us for what’s to come. Is this why some days are so challenging? If they were all easy, how would we ever evolve?
When we choose an easy goal for the new year, is it because we are afraid of failure? Or is it because we don’t believe we have what it takes to be successful? Either way, just showing up daily for your chosen goal is a success.
Somedays, we’re going to miss the mark. Our goal is going to appear larger than life. However, tomorrow we might wake up feeling like we could climb Mt. Everest in a blizzard.
Our energy, motivation, and desires shift like the wind. Could an anchor help us? Perhaps.
Having or taking time to create an inspiring elevator pitch as an anchor for your new year’s resolution can be motivating.
Saying your pitch over and over daily can instill a positive mindset shift regularly.
An elevator pitch is a quick overview of your knowledge and experience. The reason it’s named an elevator pitch is that it should be short enough to convey during a brief elevator ride.
Elevator pitch
My goal is to lose weight and exercise for 2022. These two goals are not motivating enough by their wording alone.
Therefore, an elevator pitch to use anytime, you need a mindset shift can be helpful.
Share your attributes. Your pitch should explain who you are and your capabilities and skills. It’s your chance to brag a bit – considering it’s for your ears only. Share what you bring to the table.
My elevator pitch:
I have a decade’s worth of experience in weight loss and moving more throughout my days. I worked for the number one weight loss company with many people of all sizes for over ten years. On days I’m less motivated, I need to remember the people I’ve helped in the past. I’m my personal coach, and I’m good at it.
This approach might feel awkward at first because anything new feels that way. Once you start repeating these positive affirmations to yourself, it will become second nature.
We are what are minds tell ourselves. Henry Ford said it best,
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”
So how can we stay positive on the days when we think we can’t do it besides using our elevator pitches?
Having a why
A strong why statement can help keep your mindset positive even when you feel like you can’t do it any longer. It can help increase your determination to be successful.
You’re more likely to achieve your goals when you have a strong why. After you determine your goal than ask yourself why is that goal important to you?
Here is some motivating whys:
The people you love, places you would like to go, the things you would like to do, to not need a seatbelt extender, to get up and down from the floor easier, to fit back into those skinny jeans, to wake up with more energy, to feel better, to look better and to inspire others.
Everyone’s why will be different depending on their goals and desires.
Your why can help you daily but so too can a daily focus.
Daily focus
One small action can move a roadblock. If you had a slip up the day before, removing it from the next is essential.
What is one small action step that would help you achieve your goal for the day?
Do you need to start your day dressed in exercise clothes or throw out the bag of chips that keep calling your name?
Small changes in the way we always do things is one way to improve our character. Isn’t this why we set those goals in the first place?
If you’re struggling to change because the goal you set is challenging, asking for help can be just the support you need to reset your motivation.
Asking for help
It’s refreshing knowing that asking for help is a sign of strength. Although, for some people, it can be hard to ask for help. Maybe because you have to trust the person you are asking for support.
Sometimes people will sabotage our efforts. I don’t necessarily think they do it intentionally, but their subconscious negative attitudes can rear their ugly heads. So, we must choose who we will ask and trust, wisely.
Let’s face it; our subconscious can get the best of us as well. We can have all the best intentions, but if we don’t feel worthy of our goals, our subconscious can talk us right out of them.
Nobody is perfect; it’s okay to throw in half of a towel sometimes but not the whole towel.
“There is a difference between failing and failure. Failing is trying something that you learn doesn’t work. Failure is throwing in the towel and giving up.”
— Jay Sami
It’s a new day
We all have a destiny, and our goals either move us closer to them or away from them.
It’s a new day:
There is no such thing as the perfect day, perfect goal, or perfect human being. Why do we give up when we make a few less than perfect mistakes.
Failing is the perfect ingredient for the betterment of oneself. Yet, failure is the opposite of success.
Our view on failure is imperative to our success.
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
— Denis Waitley
Facing our goals for 2022 is living with a purpose to propel us on our journey right into 2023 and beyond. After all, it begins one moment at a time. What is your next move at this moment? Moving beyond your island of safety requires direction.
In closing, I hope you find the beauty in the following piece of work. To describe Esther George’s short poem as an inspirational piece doesn’t do it justice. Maybe the word empowering describes her poem best.
It’s a must-read along with her beautiful collection of work:
Do something great, Happy New Year!