Time to Supercharge Your New Year’s Resolution

Every new year, hordes of new members flood our gym. New sneakers, yoga pants, and track suits adorning the tender bodies that have been shaped by fast food and ergonomic cubicle chairs. They wander aimlessly, resolute to make changes, and yet beyond how to dress, they are clueless. I’m always happy to see new people wanting to make changes, but most of them give up before even learning a routine.

I hope you aren’t giving up on your resolutions.

Resolutions need to survive the frenzy of everyday life

The reason isn’t a secret. Keeping in shape means hard work, and it’s most difficult in the beginning stages. Results come slowly, and it’s difficult to maintain the enthusiasm sparked by a new year. What started as a promise to hit the gym 4 days a week drops to 2, and after an emergency at home or work, the 2 days are dropped just for one week. The resolutions that once fired us up are now threatened by the frenzy of everyday life.

If you want to know the secret to six pack abs, an ass you can bounce a coin off of, and wealth that can free you from a mundane job, it’s found in the moments when tired resolutions start to seem unimportant compared to the chaos of our lives. It’s not the first day in the gym that makes a difference, it’s every day after that. The best days are the ones when you’re exhausted from work and instead of letting your body decompress, you make it bench press.

Mental fitness takes exercise

Pushing yourself to new limits is always going to be uncomfortable, but the more you do it, the stronger you get. And it’s mental fitness that gives the biggest boost to health, wealth, and strength. Each time we break through mental barriers, our mental fitness grows, and all other results come rolling in. The euphoria that came with a new start will return. You’ll start seeing extra pounds melt away and come back as muscular glutes. Your debt will disappear and your 401k will start giving you a swagger.

There is an animal in all of us and now is the time to poke it with a stick.

A new life is waiting for you to turn those resolutions into a lifestyle

The secret to wealth isn’t hidden in a stock tip, and the secret to fitness isn’t in a diet pill. Quick fixes quickly fade, real changes come from making smart decisions a part of your lifestyle. They might seem like a pain in the butt at first, but once you start seeing the results, you won’t want to live any other way.

Crush that debt

Debt is the fat of the financial world. Spending which once felt good can leave you feeling hopelessly bloated. Anything with a high interest rate needs to go. Start making automatic extra payments, and stop buying crap.

If you find yourself overspending, just say to yourself, “I’m an angry fucking tiger, and angry tigers don’t like being bloated.”

Max out your 401k and automated investments

If you haven’t already done it, set your 401k to the max. It’s incredibly easy to increase spending levels, but it’s also easy to shrink it back down. The best way to start is by limiting the income you see – set up automatic investments to your 401k and brokerage accounts.

The excitement of making a resolution will return with results.

Two things happen when you move your money streams over to automated savings. First, you put that cash to work earning interest and dividends. If you keep feeding those savings, they will keep growing, getting stronger, and one day they will be able to carry you. Second, keep money out of your checking account. Cash that sits in there will start looking more like a new car, laptop, or jet ski. You want your body churning out muscle instead of fat and you want your hard earned income turning into assets not liabilities.

Exercise your creativity

To reduce spending, you may need to sell your fancy car, and buy a used one for $5,000. Or maybe it’s time to cancel cable. Perhaps going out to bars and restaurants needs to be cut back. Instead of giving us richer and more fulfilling lives, a lot of these things make us fluffy, weak malcontents. It doesn’t take much creativity to spend money, and going to the same restaurant for the 50th time yields marginal additional happiness per dollar.

Making delicious food can be quick an easy, but takes practice.

Exercise your creative muscles by learning to make incredible food at home for cheap. Anyone can buy expensive food or beer, but you aren’t a true connoisseur unless you know how to make it. For hundreds of years, rich folk have been stealing recipes derived from the creativity that goes into humble peasant food.

Figure out exercises that works for you, and do them every week

It can be tough getting in a workout, not just because we can be lazy, but also because most of us are so damn busy. That’s why when I go to the gym, I want to get the most bang for my buck. While cardio is important, I’ve found that the most efficient way for me to get results is lifting weights.

It’s better to work out 4 days a week, but at a minimum it needs to be 2 days. This way you can get in enough workouts so you aren’t constantly shocking atrophied muscles and  are sore every week. You will keep adding onto the muscle gains, and once you get into a routine, things get easier and more enjoyable.

A workout reward system

Consider a reward system. I always have a set of chores or exercises that I need to get done in a week. I also love beer. If I don’t execute on the exercising, and leave too many chores undone, then no beers for me. I always get my beer.

If you made a resolution this year, it’s because you wanted to change something in your life. If you fell off the wagon, it’s time to get back up and get angry about it. You can either spend next January celebrating success or making another empty promise.

22 thoughts on “Time to Supercharge Your New Year’s Resolution

  1. Great idea, Mr. Crazy Kicks! I feel like February/March is the time when many of us conveniently slip out of those hard-and-fast resolutions we set for ourselves. 🙂

    My resolutions have been so-so. I fell off the wagon with exercising, but for the last week I’ve been excellent about working out again. I’ve been supremely stressed, and prioritizing exercise gives me a clearer mind (and an outlet for aggression!).

    Our money goals have been more on point. If all goes well, our first student loan will be paid off in May, so that’s a win. 🙂

    • Nice work! Congrats on crushing your debt!

      Exercise is an excellent outlet for aggression, and helps relieve stress. It also gets easier when you make going regularly a priority. Even if I only miss a week, its harder for me to get going again. But once I’m in the groove of going at least twice a week, I spend less time recovering, and the workouts are much more enjoyable 🙂

  2. I like your suggestion of a reward system. Here’s the one I’m implimenting as of today. I’m not allowed to read any Mr Crazy Kicks blog posts until after my workout.

  3. “I’m an angry fucking tiger, and angry tigers don’t like being bloated.”

    This is going to be my new mantra. I may even say it out loud next time I’m in a store. If I’m lucky the nice shop assistant will escort me out!

  4. I’m taking a week off from the gym for spring break. 🙂
    The kid is out of school and my gym doesn’t have childcare.
    For me, working out 5x per week is so much easier than 3x per week. By exercising 5x per week, it is scheduled in to my days and it became part of the routine. Anyway, I need a break because I feel a bit stuck with my pull ups. I’ll get back to it next week.

  5. Peasant Food! I found that it usually takes all day to get a meal together between gardening, harvesting, planning and prepping. Oh and add fermenting it could take weeks! You really need to be in good shape to do all of that!

  6. Love the reward system, Mr. CK! 🙂

    It seems like a week (or two) off from any regular routine makes it soooo much harder to get back into the swing of things (at least for me). We’ve been out of town off and on for 10 of the last 20 days. I hit the gym on Monday (for the first time in 2 weeks) and was surprised at how sore I was. You’re right, it’s so much easier to go more frequently!

    • It’s crazy how fast you lose your fitness. Travel always seems to get me too. After a long break, the first week back is usually a grind. But at least I know the next week will be better 🙂

  7. OK, thanks for the motivation Mr. CK. I totally needed to get back into my exercise routine!

    It’s easy to slack off when you have a super flexible schedule, and nobody cares if I’ve showered or shaved in the morning. I don’t need to impress anybody with my appearance…and sometimes that means being lazy.

    No need for washboard abs anymore, but I do need to stay healthy. Such is the life of FIRE!

  8. Getting regular exercise has been the bane of my existence. This year I decided to keep it simple and just try and walk a decent amount every day. So far, so good. My weekly average is now 10,012 steps, my monthly average is 8655. It may not sound like much, but when I tell you that my yearly average is 5093, you might appreciate my modest amount of exercise a little more.

    • Progress is progress! I used to take extra breaks from my desk to take walks around the plant while I was working. Anything to get you up and moving is going to be a huge benefit over sitting all day 🙂

  9. I love the comment about beer. I use the same motivation to work out…no workout that day, no beer. And I, too, always get my beer 😉

  10. Great post – I’m one of the few guys that’s in the gym trying to gain weight but I’ve been able to add another 4 lbs so far this year. Taking it one week at a time but slow and steady wins the race! I wrote something similar earlier on this year and honestly just getting those habits in place has made a world of difference.

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