It's officially January of 2020, and with the new year comes New Year’s resolutions. While most are great goals, rarely do they make it past the first month or two of the new year. There are a number of reasons why we have trouble following through on our resolutions, but I would like to take some time and tackle one of the major ones.

That major issue is the goal we set in itself. Our goals are often very optimistic. If your goal is to lose 30 pounds, quit smoking, and read a new book every month, it’s very likely you will fall short. Once you miss a day of working out, get stressed, or smoke a cigarette you can get discouraged. Everything all at once implodes, and you’re back to the same old lifestyle you had in December. Generally speaking, we only have a set amount of willpower, and if we take on too much at once it becomes overwhelming and we give up. For this reason it is best to start with something that is less life changing, and something that you know you can handle every day. Instead of making a commitment to lose 30 pounds, instead perhaps try and start with something simple and very achievable. I often recommend starting a simple 10 minute workout or stretching routine in the morning. It’s important that the 10 minutes is not overly challenging, something that gets your heart rate up, and gets your body moving. Nothing that makes you feel totally exhausted. As time goes on this 10 minute workout will become easier at which point you can either increase the difficulty or increase the time to 15 or 20 minutes. After a month or so this workout is now simply part of your routine. Working out in the morning requires less willpower, and you can then add other things such as smoking less or reading a little more often. The same goes for changing your diet. Don’t try and cut all the sugar out right away. Simply cut one thing out like perhaps you go from a double double coffee to a 2 cream 1 sugar. Once you are comfortable with that try and take the other sugar out. Research has shown that the vast majority of people who do radical life changes such as strict diets and exercise routines will end up right back where they started within the year. However, those who make slow incremental changes are much more likely to see lasting changes. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and unfortunately neither are good habits. To exercise and have good eating habits as part of your everyday routine should be the goal.