MO’s New Years Message 2022 – Part 3 of 4
Did you know that the third Monday of January is also called “Blue Monday”? It’s gained the reputation of being the most depressing day of the year according to a formula based on a variety of factors including the dreary January weather; having to face the bills from holiday spending; and the fact that around this time holiday spirits and New Year’s excitement are noticeable. This is also the time when many people will give up on the New Years Resolutions they made and be conflicted by low motivation and the sense of urgency to take action.
While we could make up many excuses for giving in to these external pressures and giving up on our goals and MO’tivation there is one key factor that can outperform and outnumber them all – YOU.
At the beginning of January, I shared with you an alternative approach to setting yourself up for greatness in 2022. Instead of making New Years Resolutions, I suggested starting with reconnecting to your WHY. In Part 1 of this blog series, I shared my insights on the power of reconnecting with your WHY (deeper driving reason for existence). Especially when times are challenging, returning to and reminding yourself of your WHY will help you stay aligned and headed in the right direction, no matter what. In Part 2, last week, I focused on the importance of renewing your relationships and building community. The strength of our relationships matters because it determines our resiliency and social support is essential to helping us cope through difficult times. Both themes in these two blogs present an approach-based goal orientation and MO’tivation. As you begin and MO’ve through 2022, approach-based goal orientation and leading with WHY will keep you MO’re connected, purposeful, supported and on route to realizing your authentic potential, regardless of what the year has in store for us all.
In this blog post, I am staying with this important theme of reconnecting with your WHY, but I want to go deeper to share with you HOW you can live your WHY in 2022! It’s time to put your WHY into action and build some MO’mentum and MO’tivation!
If you would like to know more about or still need to figure out your WHY, look for the feature article I co-authored for the January/February 2022 canfitpro member magazine. In this article, you will learn how to create your WHY statement and the science between WHY work and goals. You can also read the book by Simon Sinek – Start With Why – which has inspired me in a lot of my writing on WHY. And of course, there is Canada’s very own #WHYGUY Gerry Visca, who has books, magazines, podcasts, and great resources to help you remember and reconnect with your WHY.
Once you know WHY it’s important to put it into action and share it with the world. This is when you move from knowing WHY to figuring out your HOW. Your Why makes you unique but it is not meant to be kept to yourself. It is meant to be shared with others to make your community and the world a better place. It is HOW you do what you do to realize your WHY that brings your WHY to life and can help you shine in your life and career.
Trends and industry reports are one way you can start taking action and finding a direction for your WHY. Think of the trends like goal posts. When you kick a soccer ball to score a goal, you are looking for the net or goalposts for where to take aim and in what direction to go. Goalposts help you with being more precise and purposeful with the shots you take and score better results for you and your team. Industry trends act in the same way – providing guidance, insights on how to plan your approach to go with your business and career.
If you are a fitness professional, canfitpro’s Fitness Trends Reports can show you HOW to put your WHY into action. Trends reports are a helpful tool to anticipate how you can pivot, set goals, and shape your strategy for the new year. Even if you are not a certified fitness professional (yet!) there are still many interesting and I encourage you to download the report here.
Briefly, the top 5 trends correspond to the following themes: mind-body programming, diversity, nutrition, fitness as a family, and demand for quality in fitness experiences.
When planning your actions and setting your intentions for 2022, these trends can give you guidance. And if you can combine two or more trends, you will have an even more influential strategy for bringing your WHY to life. For example, if you are a Personal Training Specialist, maybe you will consider taking your Healthy Eating and Weight Loss Coach certification with canfitpro, so you can help your clients reconnect with their relationship with nutrition – the 3rd trend. Meditation has been cited by The Harvard Business Review as one of the top Success Habits for the 21st century Leader. Why? Meditation calms and conditions the brain and mind. Through meditation, you actually build and strengthen Life and Leadership skills such as resiliency and so much more. If you are looking to get started with meditation or are looking to switch up your practice, check out this album of meditations I created with my Meditation Coach Angela Kontgen to help Leaders take their mind, their life and leadership to new levels and each and every one of us is a leader in some way, shape or form so I believe we can all benefit from taking time to work on and develop our leadership abilities.
Considering the uncertainty and disruption we have all had to face in 2021 with the continued repercussions of COVID-19, the rise in demand for mind-body fitness offerings as the #1 top trend this year is a good reminder to all of us how important our mental health is and that it needs to be a priority, especially in 2022! You may also consider canfitpro’s Stress Resiliency Course to find strategies to help both you, your family and those you work with navigate change and the challenges ahead this year. This is an area I am committed to supporting as I MO’ve through 2022 with a regular meditation practice.
Having ways for HOW you can take action to keep your WHY alive in 2022, no matter what life throws your way, is essential. Take some time to create a list of different ways for HOW you see yourself living your WHY in 2022. You can draw inspiration from your industry trends or reports. This is another reason it is good to stay on top of current events and education in you’re your field by reading, attending conferences, taking courses, listening to podcasts etc! Create your list and keep it close to you and keep adding to it when you learn more as you MO’ve forward into the New Year.
Stay tuned for Part 4 – the last installment of my January 2022 blog series. You do not want to miss what I have in store for you coming next week!
