Goals/Resolutions for 2023

Well, another year is coming to a close and the dawn of another New Year full of hope and possibilities is upon us. While I didn't successfully complete a number of my resolutions for 2022, I am feeling quite optimistic and energized by the challenge of hitting the mark more consistently in the New Year.

I definitely want to get back into some semblance of physical fitness next year. Physically speaking, I am not happy with where I am at both fitness-wise and body composition-wise. But I have successfully coached and trained people with similar fitness and body-composition concerns. Moreover, I have a number of friends and former colleagues in the fitness, nutrition, and sports performance field that I can reach out to should I need some additional help. While I know that I am ultimately responsible for me getting to this point where I find myself physically, I also understand that I faced a number of challenges over the last few years. While they didn't exactly culminate in a "perfect storm", they did contribute to my failure to maintain consistent fitness and nutrition practices.

A demanding job with a demanding work schedule and an inconsistent sleep schedule, my gym closing, a fall at work that left me injured and unable to do much in the way of strength training for a time, a bout with COVID-19 and a temporarily debilitating pulmonary embolism, and pandemic restrictions were certainly some of the factors that didn't make it easy to stay in shape. Ultimately, I am responsible. But I am not beating myself up and I understand that sometimes life gets in the way. I am not where I want to be, but I have walked (and ran, sprinted, etc) the path to where I want to go before in my previous diet, fitness, and sports performance training experiences. The only real difference is that I will be doing it now in 53-year-old/54-year-old body. A challenge? Yes? An insurmountable challenge? Not hardly.

Emotionally, I think that the last few years have been a challenge for me too at times. As I have noted before, sometimes I can get into my own head a little too much for my own good and I overthink things. At other times, I can be impulsive or surprisingly apathetic or lackadaisical. While I don't consider myself to be any more prone to bouts of rumination than anyone else, I have been guilty of engaging in that unhelpful behavior from time to time. At times I can be my own worst enemy and harshest critic, rather than being my own biggest fan. And, of course, I am not immune to life's crushing heartbreaks and rejections to which we are all vulnerable to experiencing or reliving. I have been guilty of wearing my heart on my sleeve and of holding onto hurt and heartbreak.

I am okay (actually, better than okay), but at times I know that I could have done a better job of getting my mind right. While I haven't added it to my list of resolutions, doing a better job of getting my mind right is an unwritten resolution for 2023 upon which rides the likelihood of me achieving the majority of the resolutions on my list.

In addition to regaining a semblance of physical fitness, I have a number of other things that I want to accomplish in 2023. There are things that I want to do, things that I want to experience, things that I want to learn, and things that I want to try my hand at doing. Will I successfully achieve each of my resolutions? If history is any indication, probably not. I have done okay on occasion. Some years I have done better than okay. But I can't say that I have ever checked everything off of my list of resolutions. No problem. I would be thrilled to succeed with meeting a handful of the ones most important to me. And sometimes a partial success is a victory of sorts. Besides, I generally view my resolutions as subject to change or revision. I might even decide to remove a resolution if it doesn't inspire me to complete it. After all, it is my list and my resolutions. And my previous disappointments, failures, setbacks, and challenges have made me more resilient and given me some ideas as to how to succeed where I have previously failed. One only fails when one stops trying and stops learning.

Best of luck to you if you commit to any resolutions or goals and best wishes for a happy, healthy, inspiring, fulfilling, productive, and prosperous 2023.