Welcome to the newest edition of “Flashback Friday” when I revisit posts from the early days of this blog. It gives me a chance to update and freshen up some original posts and offer new ideas and perspectives on older concepts.

I’ve been blogging for over ten years (time flies when you’re having fun) and on this strength and running blog for nearly five. It’s not uncommon for me to touch on similar topics multiple times. As I grow as a trainer, writer, and as a person, I always can find ways to improve upon ideas I had years ago.

This time of year, I am always thinking about end-of-year goals. Many people make new year resolutions, and that’s great, but there’s no reason to wait until the New Year to make changes in your life. A new month, a new week, a new day or even a new hour can all be opportunities to change for the better. As I begin to think about my goals for the last three months of the year and write my end-of-year resolutions, I thought I would share a blog post I wrote a couple of years ago, that still rings true today.

Make the Best of the Holidays with End-Of-Year Resolutions

ROCK THE HOLIDAYS WITH GOAL SETTING

The end of the year often comes with a unique set of challenges and obstacles in a healthy lifestyle. How do you manage the holiday parties, the influx of sweets and treats, and busier schedules and still maintain some sanity throughout the holidays? Even the best of us can experience a bit of lack of motivation when days are shorter, colder, and busier. We often let ourselves off the hook with a promise to start over in the New Year.

My birthday is at the end of September, so I like to think of October as the new year because it is a new year for me. But whenever your birthday falls, you can use the end of the year to set new goals to help you stay on track over the holidays, so that when the new year rolls in you’ll already be two steps ahead.

Check out the post I wrote a few years ago that can help you set actionable goals: Rock the Holidays with Goal Setting

Think about your goals in the same way you would in the new year. What do you want to achieve over the next three months? What daily actions do you need to take to reach that goal? Formulate a plan then take consistent action. A focused goal can help you make better choices when faced with temptations over the holidays. Imagine waking up on January 1st already achieving a goal you set for yourself. Then in January, you’ll be ready for next-level goals, instead of just undoing any damage from the holidays.

In this post, I review the strategies for goal setting so you can get the most out of your hard work.

NINE-WEEK HOLIDAY CHALLENGE EMAIL

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts over nine weeks for a healthy habits holiday challenge. Each week we explored a new healthy habit that could easily work into a busy schedule. It wasn’t about giving up alcohol or sweets, avoiding parties, or restricting anything, but instead about building healthy practices that after nine weeks would set you up for success in the new year.

Feel free to dig through the archives and read those all posts, but I have decided to offer those lessons again as a free email nine-week sequence. For the last nine weeks of the year, each week, you will receive a healthy habit to focus on for the week. The goal of the challenge is to bring awareness to current practices and explore the small changes you can make to your day to improve. We talk about drinking water, eating adequate protein, getting better sleep, building movement into your day, and more. No extreme exercise or dieting practices. Are you interested? The first email will go out the last week in October and run once a week until the end of the year. Sign up here. This is separate than my regular blog update subscription, so even if you subscribe to the blog, if you want the challenge emails, please add your email to the form below.

For flashback Friday, I invite you to check out this post: Make the Best of The Holidays with End-Of-Year Resolutions.

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