What’s different this time? | Nerd Fitness

Today is the day with the most hope and optimism of the year.

That’s great!

Whatever goals or resolutions you set for yourself, I’m excited for you!

We’re all trying to be better, and even though things haven’t worked out the way we wanted in the past, we hope this time will be different.

Musician Nick Cave describes hope as “heartbroken optimism,” and I think that’s beautifully true. We all try to be different when change is so damn hard.

If you’re trying to build a new exercise habit or change the number on the scale this year, I salute you. Setting the goal of change is highly commendable.

But to give ourselves the best chance to achieve our goal, we need to combine the goal with some self-reflection and self-awareness.

Here are TWO questions to ask yourself as 2025 begins…

Question 1: What is different this time?

I’m proud of you for starting again.

But what is different about this attempt?

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always had.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

If you choose the same goal or strategy you’ve tried (unsuccessfully) in the past, the end result will be the same: another wasted year of “why can’t I get my act together?”

So, be thoughtful about what’s different this time!

Don’t just “go on XYZ diet” or “cut all sugar forever” or “train for a marathon” again, especially if you’ve tried those things before and couldn’t stick with them.

Something must be different this time:

• Make fewer changes.
• Pick ONE goal and focus on it.
• Choose a different exercise routine.
• Choose a different diet or diet change.
• Choose a different time of day to exercise.
• Get a friend to join you so you’re not doing it alone.
• Create your new desired behavior ​useful or necessary​.

Prove to yourself that you have learned something from previous attempts. Don’t let past failures be in vain – they showed you what doesn’t work for you.

Try something different this time!

Question 2: What are you afraid of?

You’re full of momentum right now, and that’s great.

But in three weeks life will happen and something will go wrong.

What was your tendency when this happened in the past?

We ask everyone ​NF Coaching client​ before they start: “What are you most nervous about?”

That answer is something they are aware of as a result of their past attempts:

Will you step up and decide to “take a break until things slow down?” Excellent! Now you know when that little voice in your head says this, you can prepare for it, plan to do something different and decide not to to have to listen to that voice in my head.

Will you have one bad day and go completely off the rails? Excellent! Now you know that when you have a bad day, you can forgive yourself, not look back in anger or guilt, and get back on track.

Will you give up even though you really, really want to go through? Excellent! This happens to all of us when motivation fades after a few weeks. Think about it ​adding the pact of Ulysses​ to protect yourself from your weaknesses or to make a bet with a friend to be responsible.

NF coach Matt Myers was recently on ​The Mental Golf Podcast with Josh Nichols​ – and at 24:30 into the episode, Matt pointed out something to Josh that surprised him:

“You told me before you started, ‘I know I’m going to go out HARD, but in about 3 weeks I’m going to burn out and be gone.’

And I said, ‘Thanks for letting me know,’ and I had all these alarms and alerts ready to check in with you multiple times around the 21st!”

Josh had the self-awareness to know where he was going to mess up in the future, he and Coach Matt planned for it and got over the hump together.

Since then, they’ve worked together for two months (and counting) and Josh has only missed one day of checking in, and missing a day didn’t cause Josh’s normal all or nothing behavior!

This time COULD be different

We all started to change, and even when we are self-conscious…

We often bite off more than we can chew:

Our goals and hopes often outweigh the reality that we are fallible, busy, complicated people living unpredictable lives.

It’s okay!

If we are aware of these things, if we can try differently… then even if this next try also doesn’t work, we can remove that strategy from the list of potential success paths and try again.

That’s all life is anyway: try, fail, adjust, restart.

-Steve

PS: If you do not want to go on this trip alone, I would be honored if you could opt out ​NF Coaching program​.

Our trainers are excellent and we would love to help you achieve your goals. We’ve had a ton of sign-ups these past few days, which has made me really excited to be able to help so many new people.