One of the January staples of my career while at Men’s Health magazine was “new year, new you.” It was the idea that the turning of the year was a chance to start something fresh and unprecedented in one’s life. It drove incredible interest, starting on the 26th of December. The fascinating part was that by Jan. 17, all that momentum around good habits (as measured by online engagement) had essentially evaporated. Jan. 19 was Oct. 12 as far as “new you” was concerned.
So, as I look at my own life that could use some more sustainable habits, I am more drawn to things that I have done before, that I KNOW I can implement, and maybe I should go in that direction. Out with “new year, new you,” in with “new year, old you” – especially given that we’re on the far side of a global pandemic that separated me from a lot of simple, good habits I had nurtured over time.
So I’m concentrating on resurrecting old habits, not birthing a slew of new ones. Among the candidates are:
- Exercise variety. When I was at Men’s Health, I had access to some really great trainers and my exercise routine included a lot of effective, bodyweight exercise routines that I have lost touch with. I have added a bit of yoga and (in the past year) tai chi, but I still find these more explosive, power-generating bodyweight basics missing from my daily movement patterns. Recently I was listening to the book “Outlive,” by Peter Attia, and I was reminded that I should be doing a lot of these bodyweight basics, and rucking, which has been evangelized by a former colleague, Michael Easter, in his book, The Comfort Crisis. I get out on my bike on weekends (even in winter), have incorporated tai chi and do a pretty pedestrian weights workout, but this is stuff I should be doing all the time. I’m getting back to it.
- Getting out. I’m an extrovert. I like people, like being with them – and the pandemic disrupted my schedule in a pretty profound way. Beyond that, my eyesight has deteriorated in the last few years. I can drive at night, but I often feel compromised. That said, I have lots of friends – Nick, Adam, Potter, Bill, etc. – who I haven’t seen in real life in several years, mostly because traveling, especially driving in the dark, is an issue. (And did I mention I have three grandkids? They eat up a lot of weekend time). Some not-so-old friends are a distance away, some have growing families, some I have no real excuse, I just got used to NOT doing stuff … and it’s become clearer over time that I have paid a price for letting those connections fray. Up until the pandemic, I thought I did a good job on connection, not just with people my age but 10 and even 20 years younger. One of my commitments is to re-connection in 2024 … AND I think I need a little more light in the world to really get after it. (I’m speaking actual physical light, like longer days, not a commentary on the news, which I think everyone should remember that times always seem kinda dark. It’s in our nature, I think.) To those not-so-long-ago friends, you’ve been warned.
- Limiting sugar, especially liquid sugar. I seriously need a return to alcohol-free weeknights. As I get older, alcohol carries a heavier toll. It needs to be either restricted or eliminated. Not easy, but not really negotiable, either. Also, soda and fruit juices are on the chopping block. To my “old you” theory, I’ve done this before. Three days of abstinence generally puts me in a different behavioral zone. I can do it again.
- Thinking more. Reading more. Using my brain … more. There’s this word game called Ruzzle on my phone, I play it when I wake up. I play it when I climb into bed at the end of the day. It’s totally just eating up neurons in my head. It provides no knowledge. It is not a challenge – it just appears to be one to my dumb little brain. It’s time to delete it from my phone and read. I have a nice, big backlog. And I could use more recommendations.
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