Ep# 373: Make plans, not resolutions

 

Welcome to the Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’ve never felt athletic, but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, and I help fat women over 40 to start running, feel confident, and change their lives. I have worked with thousands of women to help them achieve their running goals, And now I want to help you.

Hey there runner. A welcome to another episode of not your average runner. The podcast that is here to get you running safely and confidently, no matter your size, I am your coach and running BFF. And today we are tackling, we are tackling a topic that is. It’s everywhere this time of year. You cannot get away from it.

And that, of course, is New Year’s resolutions. How many times have you made a New Year’s resolution only to find yourself giving up a few weeks in? Now, if that is you, do not worry, because you are in good company, like with literally everybody. So, research shows that most resolutions fail because they’re really more like wishful thinking than actual plans.

And I don’t know if you can relate to this. I relate really hard to it. So today we’re going to flip the script. I’m going to show you why resolutions don’t work, what you need to do instead, and then how to create a plan that sets you up for success in 2025. And spoiler alert, it’s going to be way simpler than you think.

So let’s start with the problem. Resolutions are, well, the idea of a resolution is great, right? You identify something you want to achieve, you commit to it. It’s amazing, but here’s where it falls apart because. First of all, resolutions are often vague. They’re like, I want to get fit or I want to start running.

And they rely on motivation. And here’s the thing. Motivation is fleeting. It is a flash in the pan. We feel a brief spark of motivation and maybe we sign up for a race. And then when it comes time to train, it doesn’t last right. Because the most important reason that resolutions fail is because they don’t usually include the how, right?

There is no plan for what to do when life gets busy or things get hard. And without a clear plan, even the most well intentioned resolution, even the most motivated of us, Fizzle out. So what is the solution? You need a fucking plan. Plans work and they work because they number one, break down the goals. So instead of focusing on the end result, a plan focuses on the small actionable steps that are going to get you there.

All right. They break them down. They are measurable. You can tell when it’s working. Okay. They provide structure plan gives you a roadmap to follow. So you are not relying just on your motivation because remember motivation Is a, is a fleeting emotion. It is like this thrill of excitement. Oh my God, I’m going to do this.

It’s going to be amazing. Motivation does not last, right? So you need something that is going to help you when you’re not feeling motivated. And that is what a plan does. It gives you that roadmap to follow. And then finally, a good plan allows flexibility because life happens, my friends. Life happens. So if you have a good plan, it can help you adapt when things don’t go as expected.

So here’s an example. Instead of saying I’m gonna start running in 2025, a plan might look like this. Okay, here’s a few weeks of a plan. In week one, I’m going to walk for 10 minutes three times. on three different days. In week two, I’m going to alternate 20 seconds of jogging with a minute of walking for 10 minutes.

And I’m going to do that three times in week two. And then in week three, I’m going to do 20 seconds of jogging and a minute of walking for 15 minutes. Okay. So instead of 10 minutes, we’re bumping it up to 15 minutes. And again, we’re going to do it three times, right? So that is a plan. It is specific. It breaks the goals down into small actionable steps.

Okay. It gives you structure. It tells you how much time you’re going to do it, how many times you’re going to do it. And it also gives you flexibility. It doesn’t say I’m going to do it Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It says, I’m going to do it three times this week. It’s simple, actionable, and doable. So how do you create a plan that works specifically for you?

Well, again, I love the three steps. So we’re going to do three steps. Number one, you’re going to start small. I know you’re excited. I know you want to do all the things. When we start out by doing all the things we usually quit. All right. So begin with a goal that you can realistically achieve. And remember that consistency is more important than intensity.

Consistency plus time is what creates results. All right. Consistency is more important than intensity. Just write it down if you need to, tattoo it on your hand. Um, step number two, track your progress. So keep a log of what you do each week because what happens is over time you start seeing a collection of small wins and it keeps you, right, it actually does bring back a little bit of that motivational feeling.

In my run your best life training group, we were just talking about tracking progress and people came up with some really awesome and fun ideas for how to do that from like bullet journals to post its on a wall to Google sheets. I love a good Google sheet. They are Google sheets are so sexy. I’m telling you, but make the, make a point of keeping track of what you’re doing so that you can see your progress.

And then step three is to build in some accountability. And that might just be sharing your plan with somebody who is going to check in with you, who’s going to cheer you on, maybe even joining a group that supports your goals. Whatever it is, like build in a little bit of accountability so that somebody is somebody else knows what you’re trying to do and can help you achieve it.

And remember your plan does not have to be perfect. All right. We always want to be perfect. Perfect is a myth. Okay? A plan, a good plan is something you can stick to and something you can start, something you can do right now. Okay? And then it can evolve. Plans evolve, life evolves. It is okay if it’s messy.

If it’s okay if you mess it up. If you, if you realize like I made this plan, I can’t stick to it. Okay, I’m gonna revise it. I’m gonna come up with something else that works for me. So again, it’s okay if it’s messy. I want you to start small and build from there. And Hey, if you’re feeling stuck, completely unsure where to start with your plan.

I got you. You don’t have to figure it out alone. I’m actually enrolling new private coaching clients for 2025 right now. And you will get personalized training plans, monthly one on one coaching from me. Private coaching, um, unlimited email support for a full year. I will help you reboot that running routine in a way that fits your life in a realistic way that makes sense for you.

No pressure, no judgment, just a plan that works for you. Okay, so if that sounds like something you need, I would love to work with you. Check out the link in the show notes to grab one of the last spots because I’m, I’m really enrolling the first couple of weeks of January for the rest of the year, and then the doors are going to be closing after that.

So check out the link in the show notes, or you can just email me directly at support at notyouraveragerunner. com. Okay, in conclusion, runners, you don’t need a resolution to start running. You really don’t. You just need a plan. All right. So take that first step, make that plan, take a stab at it. Trust that every run, every effort, every moment moment of showing up adds up to your results.

Okay. It is time to run. My friend. If this episode helped you get in the right mindset for your workout today, please don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review. And I will talk to you next week, real quick, before you go, if you enjoyed listening to this episode, you have to check out my seven day jumpstart plan.

It is a free downloadable guide that will teach you exactly how to start running safely and confidently in the body you have right now, head on over to not your average runner. com slash jumpstart to grab it. That’s not your average runner. com. slash jumpstart. I’d love to be a part of your journey.