"But I am so fired up to go to the gym. Should I stop?" you may ask. Well, you should not. But you should expect a drop in motivation.
New Year's resolutions can include goals that drastically change your life. For example, start working out for two hours five days a week, even though you only went to the gym twice last year.
As Darren Hardy writes in his book "The Compound Effect," your plan to do this for the next 15 years or your entire life is doomed to fail unless you are a seasoned athlete.
Let us say you can put your business aside for the first few months and train at that pace. But sooner or later, the old life will catch up with you: you'll have to take the kids to school, meet up with friends, and watch a show your friends are discussing.
Despite your initial motivation, you will start skipping the gym. This will demotivate you and you will stop working out.
Accept your enthusiasm, but expect it to wane and adapt your plan so that later you do not have to blame yourself later for not keeping your promises. A new plan might look something like this:
- First month: 5 days per week, 2 hours per week
- Second month: 3 days per week for 2 hours
- From the third month: 3 days per week for 1 hour
To create a new habit that will last decades, it pays to start with small changes. Your current routine has been in place for years, and you can not change it in a day.
Your goal is to achieve consistency, which means not deviating from your plan. You can always increase the pace, but only if you want to and can. It will be a bonus.