Don’t you find it ridiculous how you’re expected to make New Year’s resolutions, as if the difference between 31st of December and 1st of January is enormous? Regular gym users groan, as during January the gyms will be filled with people who all signed up for lengthy gym contracts, yet stop going to gym after a few weeks. Regular pool swimmers suffer the same fate, as the lanes are filled with newbies splashing all over the place.
Look, I’m genuinely massively in favour of physical exercise and positive changes to your life, but why wait till the start of the year? Why say “At the start of next week I’ll quit smoking?” Why not right now?
Also, ask yourself why you’re making these changes. Is it really what you want, or is it what you feel society expects of you? Of course it’s fine if it’s what you really want, but if you’re only doing it because you were guilt-tripped into it, then it won’t last. And when you inevitably quit, you will feel like you’ve somehow failed.
Want my advice? Give yourself a break. If you absolutely want to join a gym, then by all means do so. If you want to start a couch-to-5km training programme, well good on you! Like I said, I’m in favour of all of these.
If you wanted to make a REAL change to your life, though, you’ll have to dig far deeper. You see, running, swimming and such are superficial changes, for the most part. Real change will require far more courage!
Real change would be to radically cut your personal CO2 footprint, and that’s a whole bunch harder than going to the gym for a few weeks. If you want to make a real change, start by seeing where you are now, by taking the challenge I’d set before.