If you are a religious Daily Hustler, you probably know my thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions, but for those of you newbies, let me enlighten you with a slightly different perspective from the societal norm…
New Year’s resolutions are well intentioned and can serve as a guiding light toward the person we wish to become…
“Yup!!! We all quit smoking, drinking and eating like sloths while never again missing a gym session for the rest of our lives… Isn’t that how it’s supposed to go?”
Hey, welcome to 2020 Stevie SuperSoft!!!!
Of course that is how it is supposed to go…
We also all quit our jobs, join the peace corp, reverse climate change and perform life saving surgeries around the world despite not being doctors… And guess what?!?!?
We don’t even have to stay in a holiday inn express to do it!!!!
The idea of New Year’s resolutions is awesome… The calendar turns over and so do all of our bad habits… We get to wash away our vices while instantly becoming the flawless person we always knew we were capable of becoming…
The TRUTH of New Year’s resolutions is that they are a gigantic crock of shit that set us up for inevitable failure and disappointment…
Yup, you heard me right Stevie.
New Year’s resolutions are unrealistic expectations that we put on ourselves… Usually, within a very short period of time, they end up as colossal failures and we find ourselves right back where we started… Smoking a pack a day while downing a 12 pack of Budweiser leaded and mowing down greasy ass pizza, corn dogs & funnel cakes.. Damn, I love funnel cakes. 😋
Only now, we beat ourselves up over the quick regression which adds to the stress and triggers the vicious smoke, drink, eat & repeat cycle that just won’t end.
So what’s the solution???
Any major change that I have ever implemented into my life has begun with one small step… That small step then became a walk and then the walk turned into a jog… The jog eventually became a run and then the run became a brand new lifestyle.
Real change does not happen without making a commitment to the process on a moment by moment basis…
Toughest thing I have ever done in my life was stop chewing tobacco…
After countless failed New Year’s resolution attempts of trying to “quit,” I decided that I was going to “stop,” for the moment… I then replaced the oral fetish and nicotine craving with nicorette gum, and one moment of not chewing became multiple moments of not chewing until an entire lifestyle that had been predicated on fat pinches of Copenhagen no longer existed… The nicorette gum gave me such bad heartburn I eventually ditched that shit too…
Whatever it is that you want to change this new year, start small and make sure to just do something each day to get you closer to the ultimate goal… When there is regression, because there will be, don’t beat yourself up over it and abandon ship. Life is a process and we oftentimes need to take 2 steps back to take 3 steps forward…
So long as we keep moving, we got a chance. 👊
-EB