New Years Goals

Resolutions are silly. I prefer setting goals. It's much more realistic for me, and probably for others too, since resolutions have such a bad stigma attached to them. Face it, those who regularly work out know that the crowded gym in January is temporary. It's predictable. People insist on making resolutions year after year and on average, people fail. And that's ok. 

But, I fail to understand why people that truly want to make a change in their life would plan to start at the beginning of a new year.  Have you ever felt different on January 1st? (And no, hangovers don't count.) Resolutions make no sense. If you want to accomplish something or start a new habit or make a healthy change, waiting until a new year begins is counterintuitive. Start now. Make a goal and plan to keep it.  And revise it if you need to. Make a new goal in March if necessary. Goals have a better track record, in my opinion.

That being said, I made a year-specific goal at the start of 2014: This year I will run 12 races, one each month if possible. This will include a half marathon and an obstacle race. 

So what's the point of this? December 31st I would have made a resolution to run more and lose weight. And like every other year I would "give up" or realize in September that I should just try again next year. That's the problem with resolutions. A simple and quantitative goal, on the other hand, can be measured and assessed easily. And if I can complete my goal, I might jut manage to succeed at my "resolution". 

So here goes. 12 races in 2014. Wish me luck.