The second Friday of Jan has been crowned World Quitter’s Day – the day when people will most likely give up on their New Year resolutions. So, now we’re celebrating other people’s ‘failures’. How grim is that?
On average, only 7% of people achieve their resolutions, so that’s 93% of us left to feel like ‘failures’ — only 12 days into the year.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Society and toxic diet culture has drilled into us that with every new year, we need to implement drastic changes to ‘better’ ourselves, to lose weight, exercise more, eat less — you know the drill. It’s so toxic and it needs to end.
I stopped setting New Year resolutions years ago, I was sick of setting myself up for failure. So, if you’ve thrown in the towel with your life-changing extravagant resolutions, honestly, I don’t blame you. I’m proud of you!
If ‘Quitter’s Day’ is leaving you feeling a little down, my heart goes out to you. This is your reminder that you’re not alone. Here’s some tips that can help you overcome those feelings of failure.
- Be kind to yourself, it’s not your fault!
When you set yourself resolutions that are too ambitious or unrealistic, of course it’s going to be pretty difficult to meet those expectations. Recently I spoke with Bec McWilliam, a holistic Psychologist in the Gold Coast who explained that persistent difficulty in meeting unrealistic resolutions can lead to feelings of self-blame and guilt. It’s completely normal to internalise our defeat and attribute the failure to personal flaws, rather than recognising the unrealistic nature of the goal itself. This is your reminder that you aren’t a ‘failure’, please don’t be so hard on yourself!
- Move your body – for the way it makes you feel!
I encourage you today, or even over the weekend, to tune into your body and give it the movement that it’s truly craving. Whenever I’m feeling a little down, I’ll opt for a Kic Pilates class or slow yoga flow. On the flip side, sometimes when I’m feeling agitated, angry or anxious, I’ll pick up the pace with a HIIT class or run to burn some steam!
When your goal is to feel good, you’ll finish your workout with instant gratification – that incredible endorphin rush! As opposed to basing your sense of achievement and self-worth on the number of the scales. Remember, your weight is NEVER your worth!
- Focus on small, sustainable changes
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for setting goals, they’re critical for personal growth and development, but they need to be sustainable. Just because you didn’t achieve your NY resolutions, doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the energising sense of accomplishment when you hit your goals.
Plan out the journey that will help you reach your goal and ask yourself, ‘is this something I could actually implement into my life?’ – also… is it something I WANT to implement? If not, then it’s time to rain it in and focus on something more achievable. For example, two tangible goals I’ve set myself for 2024 are to drink a glass of water before my morning coffee and drink, and do something for myself in the mornings before I get Harvey up for the day – even if that’s just a shower!
If you take away one thing from this, please don’t be hard on yourself. This time of the year is hard enough, with the rush of reality kicking back in and external pressures making us believe that we need to give our lives a complete overhaul. You are enough, just as you are.
If you’re ready to say ‘no’ to unrealistic resolutions, and make 2024 the year you focus on feeling good, come Kic it with us! Trust me, it feels pretty damn good when you learn to forget about the scales, and focus on your smile.
Love Steph x
