January Is Over—So What Now?
A new year comes with motivation to change your life. You start eating healthier, join a gym, get to bed earlier, maybe even pick up a self-help book to build better habits.
And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. In fact, we have a lot of respect for anyone with the courage to make a change.
But here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough—what happens when January is over? What happens when the motivation fades?
Motivation Is Overrated
Let’s start with this: motivation is overrated. You don’t need to feel good to start something—you need to start something to give yourself a chance at feeling good.
That really in-shape friend you think finds it easy to eat well and train consistently? They don’t. Most of the time, it’s just as hard for them to get out of bed, to train when they don’t feel like it, to make the right food choices when it would be easier not to. The difference? Over time, they’ve made their health a habit—just like brushing their teeth, non-negotiable and refreshing.
What Training Has Really Given Me
I’ve been training for 18 years. I’ve had stretches of consistency and times I’ve had to start over. I’ve gained strength and lost it, dropped weight and put it back on, been at my fittest and had to rebuild from scratch. But the biggest thing training has given me isn’t a number in the gym or on the scale—it’s confidence.
For years, I’ve done the sessions I didn’t want to do. I’ve trained when I was tired, when I lacked motivation, when I could have easily skipped it. And every single time, I proved to myself that I can do hard things.
The 70% Rule
Confidence and motivation come from proving to yourself that you can do hard things. Put in the reps. Give yourself the evidence.
So if you’re feeling like your motivation is slipping as January fades, that’s normal. Everyone feels that way. The good news? Your journey doesn’t have to be perfect. You can eat chocolate (personally, I have the self-control of a two-year-old when it comes to chocolate). You don’t have to train every day. It doesn’t have to be extreme—you just need to be consistent about 70% of the time.
If you can do that, over the long run, you’ll see incredible results.
And remember: if you want to be badass and do hard things, you’ve got to be kind to yourself too.
