Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
You can literally start over (maybe with some pain and consequences, but it is still true).
This mindset is real Freedom.
Show notes for this episode
It’s a New Year and statistics, and personal experience, show that most of you will give up on your resolutions by Jan-20. That’s because you are approaching it as a task and not adopting it as a mindset and core identity.
Change Your Identity
Resolutions fail because they try to change outcomes without changing identity. The fundamental problem isn’t willpower or technique—it’s that people say “I’m going to lose 20 pounds” instead of “I am no longer someone who eats this way.”
A resolution is “something I’m going to do.” An intention is “what I am doing.”
It is who I am.
The research on smoking cessation proves this: people who say “I quit” restart more often than those who say “I am not a smoker.” One is a temporary action; the other is an identity shift.
I was on the Paleo diet for 2 years. Then I started bargaining and failed.
A new diet is a new identity –
When you start a diet, you say, for example, “I am on the Paleo diet”. This implies that you can get off the Paleo diet or you can have a cheat day. You start compartmentalizing and bargaining.
Instead of saying “I am on the Paleo diet”, adopt it as your identity. “I am Paleo”. Those who succeed at this see it trickle down to their friends, who know that they will have to have or make alternatives for this person at their dinner, party, or get-together.
Stop making resolutions. Start making identity statements.
Not “I’m going to garden this year.”
“I am a gardener.”
Not “I’m going to start a side hustle.”
“I am building my business.”
Then ask yourself what that person does every single day—and do one small piece of it right now.
It even comes down to your friends
“I am the sum total of the people I spend my most time around.” - Perpend
If your friends aren’t doers, their inaction will pull you back. This doesn’t mean abandoning relationships, but honestly assessing: are the people I spend the most time with aligned with who I’m becoming?
Plan your life with intention so you are moving toward that goal.:
Involving kids in your intentional life
As I shared in You Need to be Bloomscrolling, Not Doomscrolling, no one wanted to clear the weeds from the overgrown raised beds at my daughter’s house. I got my grandchildren excited about gardening by giving them a homeschooling assignment to look at the seed catalog and choose some seeds based on the color and whether they think they would be tasty. Then they pushed those seeds into the ground and weeded and watered them. They grew moonflower, a purple cabbage, stocky carrots, and a watermelon that they thought would be “juicy and tasty”.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
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Scott runs Grow Nut Trees (Midwest Memory chestnut and hazelnut trees and perennials like elderberry cuttings) and is a Chestnut Orchard Architect, designing orchards and food forests for Midwest homesteaders. Currently booking consults for Spring. Sign up for your Free Discovery call where I help you with your Big Picture.
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