Well, here we are, right back at the beginning of the year once again. I like the new year because it really is a nice fresh start. But I have never really bought into the whole New Year, new me thing. It might be the cold, it might be January, or it might just be me. I am not quite sure, but I think, for me, it has always been because the New Year is buried in the midst of a long, cold, and grueling winter.

Whether it be the below freezing subarctic temperatures of Jackson, Wyoming, or the blistering, damp, cold of Villanova, Pennsylvania, I am freezing all the time. Either way, it's cold and my body knows it and doesn't love it.

I think my body wants to approach winter and cold as a bear's body does. Stocking up on as much food and sustenance as possible to ensure the best and deepest hibernation. Maybe it's a mammal thing? I don't know. Whatever it is, all winter seems to do is a very good job of making me very tired and hungry which makes any possibility of goals pretty slim. So no wonder I haven't been on that New Years trend.

But if you read my last post, or know me, then you know that this year has been different! I have tools to combat the cold and the feelings that come with it, and I have the motivation to get up, get out, and get going. I am ready for the New Year, and you can be too!

One thing I have found helps me is setting specific, but very obtainable goals. This trend of mine seemed to start at the gym but has migrated to all parts of my daily life and routine.

For example, I started out with the small goal of just physically getting to the gym. I could just go and literally stand in a corner, but I would have still reached my goal. I found another important part of this whole small goal system thing is acknowledging to yourself that you actually did it.

Continuing with the gym example, anytime I started getting annoyed with myself because I wasn't, "working hard enough", I would have to literally stop my negative chain of thoughts, and tell my brain to, "shut up and remember my only goal was getting there".

Weirdly enough, little reminders and things like this started to really improve my internal relationship with myself. I started making lots of little goals which turned into lots of little successes, and success easily turns to pride. In a way, I was tricking my brain into being proud of myself which in retrospect I needed. And I think pride in oneself is something everyone needs, but more and more frequently tend to lack.

So if you are one to make a New Years resolution, keep up it for about a week, then drop it, maybe it's time for a reevaluation of your main goal. Starting out small, or starting out slow is really ok because no one can just jump to perfect. That would be unfair to everyone else, so take your time with your goals. In doing that, you might just find in yourself more progress, more patience, and more pride.

It's 2019, an odd-numbered buffer year. A year of hopeful progress, but just another year nonetheless. So make it a good one, and start small because you have a lifetime to grow.

That's all for now,

• Gwen