3 Reasons Why February is for Losers

You said you were going to get it done THIS year! You were going to follow through. You were serious this time. Enough was enough! You read that compelling book; watched that inspiring YouTube video; had “the talk” with your physician; and were shamed once again by the fashion designers, marketers, and retailers.

You never read the “Change or Die!” article in Fast Company so you could get a glimpse of how hard it was going to be and so while you were sitting around watching holiday bowl games, enjoying some time away from work, and spending quality time with friends and family, you decided – 2019 is the year!

I don’t know exactly what you decided, but I know you had in your head that this year was going to be different. No question, you gave it a good go for a few weeks. You were at the gym trying to find a parking spot and a treadmill bright and early on January 2. You cleaned the treats out of the pantry – and threw most of them away as the podcaster told you to. You went to the grocery store and loaded up on veggies, thinking, “I can’t believe this stuff is this expensive in the winter!” You went out to eat with your spouse and left the kids at home for a change. You started tracking calories, exercise, and standing on the Apple Watch you received as a gift. You “Spring-cleaned” the storage room AND the garage four months early! You listened to Tony Robbins AND Dave Ramsay while walking the dog.

And where are you now? It’s February and life has already kicked your rear end and drug you right back to where you were at the end of 2018. Why? How did it happen? I’m going to tell you why. You thought it would be easy. You thought you could do it by sheer will. You missed three simple principles that would have made all the difference. You didn’t focus, you failed to keep score, and you tried to do it alone.

Focus:

Focus is a principle of getting stuff done. When you came back from the holidays having decided to suddenly become Super Mom or the Employee of the Year, you took on too many changes at the same time. You can’t do everything well. If you are retired with no living relatives, you might be able to get away with such diverse undertaking, but the rest of us need to pick one or two things to work on at a time. You only have so much time and energy, both of which are required to do work. Better to focus your efforts on the work in the few, most critical areas of your life if you want to win.

Keeping Score:

How can you win without keeping score? You can’t. See, you thought you’d get better just because you want to, but without keeping score, you can’t see the progress. You don’t get the endorphin rush that comes from seeing the progress you are making. If you want to live your dreams. If you want to become a different and better human being, make sure you track your progress as you move from where you are to where you want to be. Scoreboards are motivating because they shed light on our efforts and show our commitment. They are a mechanism that helps us follow through and get better.

Accountability:

Your last problem was you didn’t let anyone else know what you were working on. You didn’t want to bother them. You were afraid that you wouldn’t succeed, and you didn’t want your friend, colleague, or family member to think you were a failure. “Better to show them what I’ve done than to tell them what I’m doing,” you thought. Too bad. Almost all significant achievements are a team effort. You needed people to hold you accountable to follow through on your commitments when it got hard. You needed someone waiting for you at the gym on that cold, snowy morning in mid-January when you laid in bed and said to yourself, “I’ll make it up next week.” You needed someone to remind you how many calories were in that third beer. You needed your significant other to not restock the pantry with Fruity Pebbles, Cheese Whiz, and Reese’s Pieces.

Look, let’s start over, okay? Find a quiet place this weekend to think about the one change that, if you could make and sustain it, would have the greatest overall impact on the quality of your life. Figure out a simple way to track the progress you make through your efforts to change and find at least one person who cares about you and ask them to call you out if you don’t follow through. You do that, and you’ll make Tony AND Dave very proud!

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