Celebrations, Not Resolutions

Let’s Get Off the Punishment Train

Someone once said that ‘exercise should be a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what you ate. This is good advice — and it applies to more than exercise. For one thing, you’re more likely to make room for a party than for a punishment session. For another, adding in consistent (healthy) celebrations can give you the mental fortitude to make positive changes.

I’ve found this to be the case in my life. I love running. I don’t like strength training. Since I wish to get faster at running, I strength train a few times a week. I enjoy getting stronger — but I still wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love running. Running has, in fact, opened up a whole constellation of positive habits. When I run regularly, I eat better, because good fuel leads to happy workouts. I drink less alcohol because running the day after a few drinks is no fun. I also tend to sleep better, because a two hour run is exhausting. In a fun way.

Most of my good habits, in fact, grew out of fun. This is why I don’t really ‘do’ traditional New Year’s resolutions unless I can game the system. (Gaming the system is fun.) As an example, in 2015 I resolved to run a race, and I signed up for a 5k that took place on January 1. It was called, appropriately enough, the Resolution Run. And I completed it.