Like so many people, the new year has me thinking about fresh starts and the changes I want to make for 2009. Stefania’s Normal Green post about “intentions” about resolutions really rang a bell for me. I’m full of good intentions!
The hardest thing for me, and I think for a lot of folks, is implementing those intentions. I’ll do something once or twice — like go to yoga — and then my decision-making process somehow gets in the way. Maybe this internal exchange sounds familiar: I should go to yoga today. There is a class in 25 minutes. But I’m awfully stiff and tired today. Of course, I’ll feel much better after the class. Those yoga pants I like are in the wash. Yoga is important! I actually like going! Gee. It looks cold outside. Also, did I mention I’m tired?
I’d like to say that at this point I always get my behind in gear and over to the yoga studio. Sadly, it’s about 50-50. In 2009, my intention is to go to yoga twice a week. And I am going to make it happen by starting a streak.
The idea comes from my friend Debi, who has amazing dedication to early morning workouts. For the past year she’s been getting up at 5 a.m., and going to the gym before work every day. We were talking about that exhausting “should I go or not” internal monologue, and how it makes doing anything — exercising, grocery shopping or doing laundry — much more difficult than it needs to be.
Debi shared a story that helps her, about another friend who has a six-year running streak. As in, for six years he’s gone running every morning. Rain, shine, hurricane, he just gets up, puts on his running shoes and hits the pavement. This runner said that the secret to his streak is that he never “decides” to do it — that was decided six years ago. He simply skips that whole “will I/won’t I” wavering, and goes right to the “do it” part. And he says the best part is how easy it makes his morning run.
The more I thought about this story, the more sense it made. Of all of the things we vow, resolve and intend to do, most of them are relatively easy and make us feel good. We want to do them. That’s why we create goals in the first place. It’s the negotiating with yourself that makes things complicated and hard. So if you decide to skip that hard part, then you instantly increase your chances of success, and of actually enjoying yourself. You will also rapidly develop a brag-worthy streak, the beauty of which is that it reinforces itself.
So like I said, my 2009 intention is a two-times-per-week-yoga-streak. It’s fun, good for me, and helps me be kind to myself and others. I have every reason to say yes to doing it, and now that I’ve removed the decision-making process, every reason to expect success. I even have high hopes that it will be easy. Happy New Year to everyone out there with intentions, and streaks just waiting to happen!
Photo source: shoothead on flickr