Success

I do not customarily set New Year resolutions – I never had luck with them when I was younger. I remember one set of friends who eagerly proclaimed their resolutions in a loud rush at midnight. Hurrah! The year is off to a great start! Smiles and cheers all around, followed by months of major disappointment and broken resolutions.
I prefer to sneak up on things instead. Before Christmas, I start deciding what to do in the new year and how to achieve it. I have a lot of stuff to finish in the shop. I approached that by cleaning and reorganizing the shop in the last few weeks of December. I’m organized, neat, and ready to go when January hits.
My arthritis is better when I am more active. Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly indexing my physical activity upwards. My step counter is a crude but helpful way to measure this, set incremental goals, and develop good habits. Around Thanksgiving, I began thinking about how to keep this going during the worst of the winter. Now that January is here, I’ll join the Y so I can go and walk in a snow-free environment. I might even get close to one of the machines. But no heavy New Year’s commitments to work out three days per week.
I tend to sneak up on things. It’s mindset, not resolution; I tend to ease into things. I’ve been accused of not being forceful, being risk-averse, and other less complimentary terms of non-endearment. But this works for me, and after all, it’s terrific to rush in and try, but it’s more satisfactory to succeed.