By Chris Kovatch

 

New year. New me. Isn’t that what everyone says? More often than not resolutions are made and quickly fall by the wayside. It generally happens through no fault of our own. Life gets in the way. My question is this: Are we making the right commitments for change? Normally, yes, we are. Are we taking the right or best actions to be successful? Here’s where we might need some work.

Would I like to lose weight? Heck yea. But finding time to go to the gym while balancing the schedules of 5 kids isn’t realistic. Does that mean I can’t lose weight? No. It means I must be creative…. which isn’t my strong suit. I can go on bike rides with the kids or practice soccer with the boys in the backyard. I can focus on cooking dinners at home which tend to be slightly more nutritious than drive through fare. I can get my kids into bed at a reasonable hour which allows me to get to bed on time and get an appropriate amount of sleep which my body needs to function daily. These are things that will easily fit in our daily grind that help us meet the weight loss goal.

But you know what the interesting thing is? Activities like these help us achieve other areas that we are working to improve. I am sure spending more quality time with family is on most peoples’ lists and these items help us ensure success in that area.

The activities above also can help us in our finances. Getting out of debt and/or saving more money is a goal that is commendable for families. Reduction in expenses by eating at home also helps us reach our goal of improving our financial health.

I know we all have different goals at different points in our lives. My main point is for us to pause and take a step back at how we are trying to achieve those goals. Many times, we do the same thing repeatedly and expect our result to change. I believe it is time that we look for a different route to reach our destination.

Don’t be afraid to shake things up a bit. Many times, this is exactly what we need to get out of the rut we are stuck in.

Don’t be afraid to adjust your course. Adjusting midstream can be the difference between success and failure.

Finally, communicate, communicate, communicate. Keeping your family involved in the process is key. This isn’t always a journey you should be on alone. I think back to my favorite corny Brady Bunch adage: Alone we can only move buckets, but together we can drain rivers.

Work together. Learn from failures and celebrate success. You are all in this journey together.