Resolution 9

Yep, it’s a New Year’s Resolution blog post, but we reference the Beatles!

Considering the White Album has sold approximately 1,000,000,000,000,000,037 copies worldwide since its release, we’re going to assume this has happened to you: ‘Golly gee, this album is so great! Blackbird, Happiness…, Yer Blues, Cry Baby-—WHAT is this mess?! Revolution 9?!’ It is avant-garde, and it is thrown right into your head when you’re enjoying one of the best albums of all time.

Like Revolution 9 or not, this is a song that demands attention. It disrupts the flow of the album (all of their albums, actually) and forces an action out of you: Get up and lift the needle (for the vinyl lovers out there, including your La Jolla Sports Club Personal Trainer, Kevin Root), actively ignore or actively tune in and try to figure out just what John Lennon was thinking. In case it’s been a while, click the link above. This is not a song that just casually plays in the background.

Which got us thinking… Resolutions are a bit like Revolution 9: They should force an action. Casually knocking out resolutions doesn’t really scream ‘I accomplished something this year!’ So if you’re the resolution-making type of person, what kind of action are you taking on your resolutions? Whether you’re a fan of the smaller resolutions or THE BIG IDEAS, below are some tips on helping you stay on task and accomplishing goals throughout 2020 (which, by the way, sounds like the future).

We have ideas for you!

Small or BIG?

A lot of us like to think big. It’s fun and it’s empowering and is a great way to daydream your way out of doing what’s in front of you. Many people smarter than your author, however, have figured out that smaller steps are more realistic for the way we live our lives. ‘I want to run a marathon’ might sound good on paper, but if you’re going from couch to qualifying times, it’s going to take progress, and chipping away at smaller goals will be the best way to get to your big goal. ‘I want to lose 20 pounds,’ on the other hand, can have you substituting a piece of fruit for dessert and building from there to achieve the desired outcome. Breaking down bigger goals into smaller items helps you cruise through the easy tasks and build confidence early on. Note: Try applying this idea daily from mundane tasks (creating a checklist counts) to one of our new recipes in the LJSCene newsletter.

One thing at a time…

You know that really annoying thing that your cousin / best friend / doctor / etc. repeatedly does? Those habits were learned over time. Which means the opposite can also be true. If you want to better yourself or break a bad habit, try doing one thing, and doing it consistently. According to this insightful article on habits, the latest research states it takes about 66 days to build a new habit. You can miss a few days throughout the process, but if you’re serious about that marathon or weight loss, give yourself some time, but

Don’t beat yourself up.

Perfection is unattainable. And if for some amazing reason you reach perfection, we’d be interested to see how sustainable it is.

Talkin’ ’bout commitment.

Talking about your goals and discussing a plan of attack is a great way to adhere to your goals. Verbally explaining them to a supportive person(s) in your life or writing them down in a visible space (i.e. desk or fridge) will help keep you accountable, and if you’d like to really put yourself out there, posting on social media can be a great way to keep you on task. There are plenty of Facebook groups out there for people with similar goals. Go find your people and accomplish something together!

Learn from yourself, and also from the past.

Why are you writing these resolutions? Because you feel like you have to, or because it means something to you? If your reasoning isn’t rooted, you’ll have a much harder time accomplishing your goals. Attaching meaning or purpose to your resolutions will provide a better end result, but maybe more importantly, motivation when you need it most.

And now that you have attached meaning and purpose, have you tried this resolution / goal before? What went wrong / right? Avoid the pitfalls and build on your accomplishments, big or small (see: above).

Give thanks (and a treat) to yourself.

We’ve talked about this before in our gratitude articles, but taking the time to feel grateful and understanding Why will be a big part of how you succeed. Plus, grateful people are happier people, which is a win in and of itself.

And maybe you’ll be a little more grateful and motivated if you give yourself a little treat along the way… We all deserve a little something, right?

OK, it’s time for us to go, but before we do, one more note on John Lennon and Revolution 9, which we feel encapsulates the idea of subjective perception pretty pretty pretty pretty well:

Lennon was once asked if Revolution 9 was about death, because it seemed like that to the interviewer. Lennon answered: ‘Well then it is, then, when you heard it… Listen to it another day. In the sun. Outside. And see if it’s about death then.’

Happy Valentine’s Day!

// Your friends at La Jolla Sports Club