Now is the time we all are thinking of changing a thing or two for 2026 to improve our lives. Many of us use the new year as a marker to turn over a new leaf, live healthier and be better people. This coming New Year, instead of labeling it resolutions, maybe start viewing it as new habits.
Viewing it as healthy habits rather than New Year’s resolutions, tends to take the pressure off and are easier to maintain. Ideally goals are meant for making new changes for a better life that improve overall health and well being. The difference is that habits are ongoing actions, while resolutions are specific, time bound goals that can be challenging to maintain.
It may be a more effective approach to establish sustainable healthy habits by focusing on small, realistic changes, and breaking them down into actionable steps. Relying purely on willpower to achieve our goals will often result in failure. Setting our sights on quick fixes to long standing problems doesn’t work either. But, if we create a system that transforms desired behaviors into default behaviors, success becomes much more likely.
An example of a healthy habit would be if the goal is to get in better shape, keep it simple and commit to moving your body daily that gets your heart rate up for 20-30 mins. Once the change is made and it becomes part of your day, you can move on to more challenging behaviors, like working with a trainer, going to the gym or running a 5K.
Another example of a healthy habit would be if the goal is to eat cleaner, keep it simple and commit to avoiding driving through fast food chains. Once the challenge is made and it becomes part of your new eating habits, you can move on to not keeping junk food in your kitchen or eat clean 80% of the time to avoid temptation.
You get the hint here. These are just general examples giving you an idea of how to break down goals to make them stick to turn into habits. The point is to think of what will work for you and your lifestyle to set yourself up for the best success. This way we build trust and self confidence with ourselves rather than shame ourselves because we didn’t execute this major goal in our chosen timeline.
We’ll slip from time to time, but we can always get back on track and tomorrow is a new day. Creating New Year’s resolutions isn’t a bad thing, but we need to do a better job of giving our resolutions a fighting chance.
Building better and simpler habits in the beginning can ensure that our goals, and our self-esteem, remain stable throughout the year.
Ashley LaMorte is a nationally certified fitness instructor and has been in the fitness industry close to a decade. Over the years, she has gotten the opportunity to instruct group X boot camps at gyms and train private clients from all walks of life, all over the Bay Area. She now has her own mobile fitness business LaMorte Lift. Learn more at LaMorteLift.com.
