Don't Set New Year Resolutions - Try with Habits

I have proven it for myself: Defining and Executing small habits every day will take you to your goals in a more rewarding way, rather than placing those goals in the first place. I started changing my habits more than 2 years ago and here are some tips that I would like to share with you.

Every Year is a fresh start opportunity to setting new objectives, either raising the bar or trying to achieve what we weren't able to accomplish the previous season. To a greater or lesser extent, we all reflect on last year achievements, what worked, what didn't work, and try to become a better person in the year to come in many aspects in our life: personal, professional, family...

Nevertheless, many of us miserably fail on them as 43% of people expect to give up their goal after just one month. Research shows that 95% of New Year's Resolutions are fitness related, but after just 3 months, only 10% of people think their resolution will last (sundried study).

However, it can be achieved by changing the approach just a little bit. I have seen myself failing wretchedly year by year trying to achieve goals of all kinds. And everything changed the day I replaced the word Goals for Habits.

• A goal is "an aim or desired result". The result becomes the center of our motivation, and the path (habit) becomes just the way to achieve it.
• A habit is "a regular practice, especially one that is hard to give up". Practice makes improvement, improvement makes motivation, motivation makes the practice enjoyable, and that leads eventually to regularity and results (goals).

The habit focuses on the path, the goal on the result. This is the key that make Habits a more powerful tool than Goals

My story begins in 2021 when I decided to change some things after a disastrous 2020 in terms of habits (many of you will know what I mean). In Jan'21 I decided to set 3 Goals: practice Crossfit (never done it before), practice Mountain Bike (I had a dusty bike I never used) and achieve a best-in-class eating routine (I didn't even know how to prepare a proper meal). I was heading to another disastrous year of failed objectives.

Like most people, I had obstacles when executing my brand-new-objectives the first days of January. In my case, I was hit by a van that left me unable to walk for 4 months. My objectives were completelly destroyed, I was really frustrated, and I shared my frustration as much as I could so everybody would know this was another year of failed objectives.

However, in one of those conversations, I received an unexpected recommendation: "Forget about your Goals and change them for Habits. Your temporary disability gives you the chance to develop small habits, so you will be prepared when you are healed to start with the greater ones"

This motivated me so much, that I set out to create two very specific habits: 1. Exercise my upper body + healthy leg 5 days a week; 2. Eliminate ultra-processed foods from the diet and incorporate foods that help on recovering broken bones.

When I recovered, I had already 4 months of consistency, of really small and non-impactful habits, but enough to get where I wanted. And now, I was able to put these new habits to work 100% as I had initially designed them. I started practicing Crossfit 4 times a week, and Mountain Bike at weekends, in addition to boosting these good eating habits.

I kept these new habits for the rest of 2021, and best of all, I have finished 2022 having maintained and improved them even more.

Inputs: How did it go during 2022

I have a Whoop device, so I was able to track the most important habits I developed and I was executing consistently. Data of Whoop shows that in 12 months, at the end of 2022:

• Exercised 211 days in total and completed 257 hours of sports among all activities
• Walked an average of 10,6k steps a day, and more than 3,5m steps a year (Garmin)
• Slept 7 hours per day in average, and a total of 2.494 hours in 12 months
• Food was clean 80-90% of the time, but flexible enough to enjoy it
• Avoided alcohol 201 days in total, subsituting it by water and several Heineken 0.0

Outputs: What were the Key Results

• I feel better than never before Mentally and Phisically. I feel good, confident, and really capable of facing any challenge, either at home or at work.
• I am more functional than ever. I can execute some exercices I thought they were impossible for me. Practicing and practicing, I have a more functional body. Feeling phisically capable also boosts my self confidence and I feel great mentally
• I broke all my marks in my main sports (not amazing records, but my personal ones). Lifting weights, speed and duration of a running session, hardness of a bicycle routes...
• Key Health metrics. Records: HRV 102, RHR 49, VO2max 53 at the end of 2022.

If you are still here, and you are convinced to change the word Goals for Habits, I would like to give you some tips to succeed at them:

1. Choose only one new habit to create. When you have done it for 3-4 months think about more, ideally a new one that builds on the initial habit.
2. Put it on your calendar, as if it was one more meeting. And don't let anything, unless it is really urgent and important to spoil that moment. That is the most important meeting.
3. The new Habit must be something you like, at least a little. Don't try things you really despise, otherwise you will quit sooner or later.
4. Track everything you can. If you like data, track the new habits, the results of your workouts, how many days of consistency... You will be able to look back from time to time to see how much you have achieved.
5. Start with a habit that you repeat 3/4 days a week. That is up to 208 days a year! Transformational!
6. Join a community. If your habit allows it, join a group that is practicing it. They will ask you if you miss a day, you will share learnings, and transformation will be faster

And that's it. Hope you liked it. I will continue sharing content based on data, about the power of Habits.

Keep practicing!