Welcome to the year that’s going to suck

I know you are thinking this is going to be an amazing year and it won’t suck at all because you got your resolutions covered. Right? You made some great resolutions, or you have a theme, or your one special word and you are PUMPED to get this year off the ground. Well, if you are committed to making change this year, then your year is going to suck. If it doesn’t suck, nothing is gonna change.

Here’s why your resolutions need to suck

Case in point. Last year did not suck for me. I stopped running early in 2016 and then decided to get off my butt and to train for a half marathon. With the training expertise of my amazing running coach, Joe Gigas, I ran a half marathon. Training did suck because of early mornings and the hard workouts my coach planned for me. My coach’s ears were often ringing as I cursed him during my workouts. But, race day came and there were these huge hills. I froze up and my brain switched gears from sucking mode to just finishing mode. So since I was unwilling to let the race suck, since I was unwilling to get uncomfortable, I had a less than stellar finish time. Oh sure, I tried to convince myself that my goal was to finish the race, anyway, and that just getting through it would be a major accomplishment. It was great that I did it, but what I didn’t do was allow myself to get uncomfortable. You know what I mean? I know you do.

Goals

If you want to achieve those goals, if you want to lose weight, run faster, stop stressing over little things, get overwhelm under control, get a better job, find a partner, improve your relationship and anything else, you HAVE to get uncomfortable. If it doesn’t suck while you are doing it, you are not getting any better. Trust me.
Today, I laced up to go out for a run. I hurt my hip after my race in October and have not really run regularly since then. So I thought I will run either 30 minutes or 3 miles. I got to 30 minutes and I had not quite finished my 3 miles. I am super slow these days. Normally, I would just stop and say, “Well, you set the 30 minute goal and you finished.” Today I asked myself, “does it suck yet?” I said, “no” and kept running until I got to 3 miles. My new mantra, “if it doesn’t suck, I’m not finished yet.”
This year is also going to suck for me because my word for the year is “Share.” What that means is that I have to get uncomfortable enough to share the things I may not want to share with you, the good, bad and the ugly. After all, how helpful is it to you if I just say “Rah, Rah I am really great at doing all these things and you should do them, too. It’s easy. I will show you how!’ I screw up quite a lot, but I learn and grow. This year I get to screw up, have it suck, share everything that sucks with you and hopefully grow a lot more. So instead of wishing you a happy new year, I’m gonna wish you a year that sucks. You’re welcome.