Why would I make such a seemingly negative statement to start the new year? The simple answer is that it is true. The vast majority of normal, everyday people become less healthy and have a diminishing quality of life over time – sad but true.

      I also understand that anyone reading this article is likely not a normal, everyday person and you are therefore much less likely to suffer the same fate.  In fact, the reason I am writing this article to help to ensure that you do not.

     When it comes to health and well-being this is the time of year that people make resolutions. I have seen dozens of articles about New Year resolution pop up on social media. I have written many articles on resolutions over the years. The problem with resolutions is that they almost never stick and not only do we not follow through they can actually harm us by chipping away at our resolve and self esteem. So, instead of leading us to our best self we just get one year sicker and more miserable.

     It doesn’t have to be that way but in order to get a different result, we must take a different approach.

     One of the main issues I see with resolutions (through personal experience btw) is that they are GOAL FOCUSED. It could be ‘lose 20 pounds,’ or ‘squat 500lbs,’ or ‘run a marathon,’ or other goals regarding our career or finances. Don’t get me wrong, I think having clearly written goals is a good thing. However placing most of our focus on the endgame can be a recipe for disappointment and disaster.

     The problem with focusing on the end goal is that it can distract us from what is  most important which are the habits and systems that move us in the right direction. Habits and systems that we implement daily are a lot less sexy than victory at the end yet they are absolutely necessary. As James Clear points out in his book Atomic Habits, ‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.’

     Why is it advantageous to focus on habits and systems over goals? The first is that there are many ways to achieve a goal, but is it healthy in both the short and long-term? Is achieving it in that manner sustainable? You can lose 20lbs with a crash diet or diet pills but for how long can you keep that up? What other costs will you have to pay for that approach (health, well-being)? Focusing on eating a good breakfast each morning is not as exciting and may require more time but the long-term outcome will be far superior.

     Another problem with being goal focused is that you can do a lot of great work (habits) before there is any obvious pay off. Does that mean you are failing? It can take a fair bit of time before healthy breakfasts and exercising show up on the scale. Perhaps your weight remains the same but you are gaining muscle and losing fat. Does that mean you should stop? Don’t let the goal distract you from what is best for you.

     The other question is what happens after you reach your goal (on the small chance you do)? Most people slide right back into old habits and end up worse than when they started. The super ambitious then up their goals to a higher standard. This is great, but what if they systems they used are not sustainable?

     This year, I give you permission to put the resolutions on the back burner. Focus on habits. Once your new habit becomes ingrained in your life (systematized), add another one. Instead of focusing on the outcome, place your attention on getting just 1% better every day. That is the only way to become healthier and happier in 2020.

I had a good laugh with one of my long-time patients this week when we were talking about our upcoming Best Year of Your Life workshop that I will be presenting at the end of January and the series of articles I will be posting starting with this one. She remembered workshop and articles with the same name each of the last several years and was joking about each year being the best. I pointed out that this was EXACTLY my point.

When we make sustainable progress in any area of our lives, it means we can build on it. When we create more awareness, learn new strategies, build new structures, and develop more wisdom we OWN those things and we can use them to take the next step for a lifetime. In this way – if we do a job of this – each year CAN be the best year of our lives regardless of external circumstances.

For this year’s series of articles I have decided to use Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and apply them to your health. Of course any and all of these habits can be used to improve your relationships, career, finances, or any other important part of your life.

There are several key concepts that run throughout Covey’s 1989 classic and will be important to keep in mind as you progress through this series.

This process is one that is, “Inside-out.” This means that in order to be healthier (or happier, or wealthier) you have to start by focusing on YOU. There is perhaps no other area that the average person is “Outside-in” than in the way they see their health. To be healthier, don’t start looking for it in a pill, a diet, a workout, a doctor (even an amazing chiropractor!). We will not start with anything outside of you. Starting on the inside will allow us to not only be more effective in choosing and using the tools we have available to us, it will also make the results much more sustainable.

Another principle is developing all 3 parts required to form a new habit. These are Knowledge(what to, why to), Skill(how to), and Desire(want to). Without all 3, our progress will be temporary at best as we will fail to fully ingrain the new habits we require – hence most New Year resolutions that rarely last into February.

The next principle is that of the Maturity Continuum. This continuum moves people from dependence, to independence, and further on to interdependence. A dependent person requires help from other people – it is a matter of survival, not thriving. Many people are dependent on a certain drug or doctor in order to stay alive or get by – while this may be necessary and is great to have available it can severely limit the level of health we can achieve.

An independent person takes things into their own hands and gets good results, while an interdependent person knows how to work symbiotically with others to get the greatest results possible. Habits 1, 2, and 3 will help people move from dependence to independence. Habits 4,5, and 6 will lead to Interdependence and the real fruits of your labour.

The final principle running through this series is that of P/PC balance, with P representing Production and PC representing Production Capability. This concept is famously illustrated by the story of the farmer whose goose(PC) laid a solid gold egg(P) each day. When the farmer focused too much on P, he slaughtered his PC in order to get more eggs. As a result he literally killed his capability to create wealth. The same applies to our health. How often do you go after a result in a way that actually hurts your ability to be healthy in the future?

I am looking forward to the next 7 or 8 articles and if you are in the area and would like to attend our in-office workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 8^th at 7pm, give Adele a call and reserve your seat. This workshop is open to patients and non-patients alike.

‘For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root.’

–       Thoreau