The 4 Best Excuses to Quit Your New Year’s Resolution

December 26, 2018

The new year is supposed to be a time to change your life. A chance to turn over a new leaf- at least that’s what we have been told. 

With the end of the year rolling around I’m sure that you are feeling pressure to set a 2019 New Year’s resolution to eat better, exercise more, or learn a new skill. When your 25th+ new year rolls around you may be taking a look at how successful this practice has actually been for you. Is it even worth it? Why did you quit last year? And what will be different now? The answer is simple, you are always worth it. Here are the 4 best excuses to quit your New Year’s resolution 2019- and how to beat them.

 

1. To Change Your Life is Uncomfortable.

 

Nobody on this green earth likes the first week of life-changing. Many people don’t like the second week either if we’re being honest, but it gets better. You have to accept that it’s going to be hard. Your body will be missing it’s long, lazy days on the couch and it won’t be shy in telling you about it. Your mind will miss its comfortable routine of unhealthy habits.

So what could be different about your New Year’s resolution 2019? More self-awareness is usually what people say. However, they miss the next step. If you have more self-awareness, you need to have actionable responses ready to strengthen your weaknesses. You need to have coping mechanisms, self-care routines, and a mantra. Something to focus your mind. If you don’t have anything like that, now’s the time to get one. I highly recommend warm night-time baths with a Focus Bath Bomb to reset for the next day of becoming your best self. You’re about to change your life- it’s time to get serious!

 

2. To change your life can be painful! (Lactic Acid - Thanks Saber Tooth Tiger)

 

Okay, so your New Year’s resolution 2019 involves fitness or wellness. If you are going to see the inside of a gym more often in 2019 then get ready for muscle soreness! Lactic acid is what builds up in your muscles when your body can’t quite take in enough oxygen during exercise. This is normal and actually pretty interesting. Scientific American wrote a great article about it, but basically, it’s an evolutionary advantage that we developed to allow us to perform at a level that would save our lives against predators (like saber tooth tigers). Today it’s not quite as exciting. We mostly see it when we do 5 extra minutes on the treadmill. This is a huge reason people give up! The second day is always harder than the first because muscle recovery can be a huge pain.

How will you be ready to overcome this? A muscle recovery plan! Working through the pain is a skill that separates the people who quit from the people who make the change. A few tips:

• Stretch! Before your workout, but definitely after!
• Start 20% below your normal workout routine for the first week, then build way up to full level.
• Do NOT skip your workout the next day! Moving is what cleans that lactic acid out of your muscles and relieves that soreness and pain. If you quit the day that it hurts the worst you will still have the pain and soreness, but miss out on achieving the goal. Lame! Plus the muscle recovery will take longer. A key to success is consistency over intensity.
• Invest in some serious self-care. Bath bombs are awesome, like the one I mentioned before. There is also a line of shower smoothies that can give you similar benefits in a quick shower if you aren’t a fan of baths. Plus they are made of naturally powerful essential oil blends for muscle recovery. For best results, we suggest the Muscle Milk line with a blend of essential oils known for helping with muscle recovery. Give yourself some prep time to get ready for the next day.

3. To change your life takes time… and who has that?

 

We are professionals, moms, teachers, students, friends, mentors, and so much more. People rely on us and those expectations can feel crushing sometimes. Especially when you know that you need to make a change for yourself, but you have no idea where you will find the time. If you are anything like me, you put yourself at the bottom of the priority list. That’s the only way things seem to go smoothly. Time management can be a 2019 New Year’s resolution of its own and it’s the first thing you need to tackle if you ever want to be successful with self-care, exercise, or personal development. If you struggle with this, it could be a huge reason that you give up. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.

Apps are your new best friend. Or… they’ve been your best friend all along. Start testing them now! Even though I know that there is an app for everything, I often forget about them when I need one! Here’s your reminder to start looking for an app that will do the work for you. Take advantage of a really solid calendar app. Google calendar is great for managing events. Asana or Calandy are two of my favorites for task management or meeting management. Being able to sit down and schedule all of your tasks is key to actually getting them done.

 

4. You Need to Believe in Your Ability to Change Your Life... and You Don’t.

 

This excuse is used most often, even if we don’t say it out loud. You may have used this excuse recently and not admitted it to anyone else - or even to yourself. If you find yourself quitting often, struggling to make new goals, or lacking the motivation to try- you don’t believe in yourself! Or even more specifically, you don’t believe that your efforts will be enough to make a difference. Without the belief that you can actually achieve the goal, you have quit before you started.

I highly suggest meditation to explore the root of this belief. The answer to overcoming this can only be found inside of yourself. Sit in the bath or shower and let the steam clear your head. Ask yourself why you don’t feel powerful over your situation. Find the issue and eliminate it from your life. If you took a breath this morning, you are strong enough to keep fighting for your happiness. You are already enough.  

Here’s the skinny, you can change your life. There are a million and a half more excuses that we use every day to hold ourselves back. If you want your New Year’s resolution 2019 to be the time you actually change your life, I want you to know that you can. Happy New Year!

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