If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s companies and people pushing the ‘new year new me’ mindset. Let’s be real, January 1st is just a new DAY. Of course it’s the start of a new year, but what’s the difference between December 31st you and January 1st you? Noooothing. And that’s OKAY!
You don’t need to flip your life upside down and make a bajillion changes to your life and your routine just because the new year hit. Instead of ‘new year, new me’ why don’t we say ‘new year, BEST me’. Because you don’t need to be a new you! The you you are is more than good enough.
So I’m going into 2023 with the new year, best me mindset and here’s how I plan on making 2023 my b-i-t-c-h.
1. Writing Down My BIG Goals for the Year
I always start a new year off by grabbing my journal and writing down at least 5 goals for the year that scare the crap out of me. One year I wrote ‘pay off my car’ even though I had just bought it 4 months prior and guess what? I DID IT. I feel like having your goals written down makes you more inclined to work towards them and hit them. And listen, these don’t need to be goals that you know or even think you can reach. They should be goals that seem crazy at first and make you question your sanity. Because those are the goals that will force you to do big things!
2. Setting Realistic Daily Goals
If I was barely drinking 40 oz of water a day in December, I’m not going to set a goal of drinking 120 oz in January. When it comes to daily goals they need to be realistic otherwise you’ll just get discouraged when it feels impossible to hit them!
With our Bicah Body gals, we have them set three new daily goals each month. We do new ones each month so that 1) you can reflect on the past month to see what’s doable for you, what wasn’t working, or what’s coming up this month that you have to work around, and 2) so that each month feels like a new chance to be the best version of yourself.
I also love having daily goals because they’re small achievable tasks that feel good to ‘check’ off of your list each day. And going on a 15 minute walk is a LOT less intimidating than a yearly goal of reaching a savings goal. My daily goals for January will be going on one walk a day (even if it’s cold), drinking 96 oz of water (that’s three of my water bottles), and posting one TikTok.
3. Removing Guilt Surrounding Food and Exercise
It would be foolish of me to expect to stick to my fitness goals every day of the WHOLE year. So one very important aspect of the new year is learning how to give yourself grace when it comes to your journey.
You’re going to miss workouts. You’re going to eat nothing but junk food some days. It’s OKAY! The biggest downfall of people’s fitness journeys is when they think that they’ve failed because they fell off track for a day, week, or even a month. It happens to all of us!
What I’m going to do (and you should, too) is remove guilt from anything surrounding food and exercise. I ate zero vegetables today? Oh well, I’ll eat them tomorrow. I missed 4 days of workouts in a row? Oh well, I’ll just do the 5th day today as if nothing happened. You don’t have to be perfect to see progress, you just have to be consistent!
One thing that helps my food guilt a LOT is all of my husband’s recipes because 1) they’re made with real, normal ingredients and 2) they don’t have calories or macros listed on them so you can’t obsess over the numbers. I eat what sounds good, when it sounds good, and I still see progress every single day!
4. Focusing on ME
I don’t care what neighbor Nancy is doing. I don’t care what the new it-girl on TikTok is doing. There’s always going to be people who are having a better year or day than I am, so why would I let that comparison consume me? 2023 is all about you vs you.
Are YOU better than YOU were this time last year? Are you happier? Are you more confident? Because THAT is what we’re striving for.
As 2022 comes to an end, don’t let lame companies or people make you think you have to do a 180 on your life to have a successful year. Making small tweaks here and there is KEY to developing a sustainable lifestyle that you’re striving for! Going from 0-100 most often leads to people feeling burnt out, discouraged, and ultimately giving up. The most sustainable fitness journey is the one that you enjoy doing! So keep that in mind as you watch the clock hit 12:00 on New Year’s Eve. You’re [already] doing an amazing, sweetie.
