New Year’s Evolution
Every year there is all this talk about making resolutions. I propose that what you really need is not another resolution (or what I like to call a Revolution), but an EVOLUTION. I have this friend, let’s call him Dave, who used the term evolution recently with me. He said he had noticed the evolving of my life over the seven years we have known one another. I got to thinking about this word evolution. What does it mean to evolve vs. make some big change today? It turns out that evolution refers to the gradual development or changes in something over a period. A revolution on the other hand is a fundamental change in something in a staggeringly short period of time. An evolutionary change builds on core competencies and there is no time pressure. A revolutionary change is one where the stakes are high, and the response time is short. Think New Year’s resolutions. “I vow to give up all sugar forever! I will call my mom every Sunday and talk for an hour! I will lose that twenty pounds in two weeks! I will ride that Peloton every day!” Ok, that last one was the resolution I was planning to make. We do this. We cry out on the last night of the year and promise, cross our hearts, that this year will be different. Tomorrow will be a brand-new day and we will be magically transformed. Sounds a whole lot like a revolution.
I think this is key to why most New Year’s Resolutions do not result in any lasting change. Because we go about them all wrong. We are not hard wired for drastic change. In fact, most of us do not change that way at all unless we are forced into it. If we lose a job, or a relationship falls apart we may have to make a revolutionary change. But let’s face it, that does not happen all that much. We kind of do the same things every day, and in much of the same ways. This is how we get a lot done in one day: we are on autopilot much of the time. For instance, when you get in your car to drive to work, do you think about everything you need to do to get from your door to the office? When you were learning to drive, you did. But now that you have this skill (core competency) mastered, you just get in and drive. But what if you needed to drive differently because your right arm is in a sling from that freakish table tennis injury you suffered. Now you must think about how to drive your car with this new limitation. You have been forced into making a revolutionary change.
On New Year’s Eve, as you stand on the cusp of a new year, there is something very enticing about envisioning yourself as something you are not today or doing something you always dreamed of doing. New Year’s Eve is the mulligan in golf, and the reset button on your electronic devices. You think about reinventing yourself, starting over, being different than you have been in the past. But think about this. You are already a formed person with a lot of life experience. You are not perfect, but you are uniquely you. You have friends, a job, a family, and a community in which you live. As the old Saturday Night Live skit goes, “and by gosh, people like you.” You do not need to reinvent yourself. You do not need a re-do button. Maybe what you need is something more in line with an evolution.
Why is Revolution so Sexy?
Why do we prefer a revolution, a New Year’s Resolution over just simple changes over time that could have a lasting impact? Well, it’s simple really. We are not good at delaying gratification. When we decide, once and for all, that we are going to lose those 20 pounds, we want those pounds gone in one week! Ok, maybe we will give it two weeks, but that’s it. So, we starve ourselves for a few days, put on extra clothes when we work out to “sweat it out” and we weigh ourselves multiple times over a few days hoping that the weight just melts off. For some people it does happen. But then what happens when the calendar rolls around to February and those resolutions, or revolutions, are in your rearview mirror? Those few pounds you lost have made their way back onto your scale and you have not really changed anything. What did you get out of it you wonder? Well, it was exciting for a few days and you proved to yourself that you could do it. You inspired yourself. But what is that feeling you have now, in early February? Oh yeah, I know that one. Guilt. Remorse. Oh boy.
How will an Evolution help me?
What if instead, this year, just this one year, you try something different. What if you decide to evolve yourself? What would that look like for you. You could say, if you were me, pick a time three days a week to ride my Peloton and put the date on my calendar so that it’s an actual appointment. I’m very good at keeping appointments so there is a stronger likelihood I will keep that one going. And I will make those appointments for the whole year, not just a couple of weeks or a month. Then I will choose modest workouts on that beast of a machine. I promise this is not intended to be a plug for Peloton, but it is a good workout. I will be careful about how big of a challenge I take on and choose Jenn and her low impact ride to get me going, then choose harder rides as I grow stronger. I will pace myself and have patience with my progress. I will evolve. Over time. And guess what? When we train like this, or do any activity in this manner, it becomes part of our routine. And soon it becomes a habit. And that is how evolution occurs. In three months, I will be riding high intensity workouts with man-bun. But today, on the cusp of a new year, it will be just me and Jenn and that easier ride to get me going. How will you evolve this new year?
