With 2016 almost upon us, I would like to suggest an approach to New Year's resolutions that I have found successful: begin with gratitude.
As an athlete myself and having worked with many athletes over the years, I know success comes from daily improvement. Full effort is the ethic.
This practice helps keep things in balance as we face valleys and peaks along the journey toward our goals. Athletes with this perspective tend to leave little time for celebration, however: when one challenge is overcome, it's on to the next.
It's not hard to see, then, how consistently focusing on opportunities for improvement can unintentionally take our attention away from -- and make us take for granted -- all that is going well in life.
New Year's resolutions can create a similar problem by framing goals around what is currently not going as well as we would like -- imposing an artificial separation between the "ideal self" we are striving toward and our present self.
Persistence is crucial for success in sports and in life -- yet so is pausing to savor the present moment, count life's blessings, reflect on cherished memories, and share our love with others.
For me, gratitude renews my sense of self by clarifying what matters most. And understanding how things align with my personal values in turn deepens my resolve.
Beginning with gratitude both makes our new endeavors more engaging and makes our success more certain because a mindset building upon what we already have is more empowering than one scrambling after what we perceive ourselves to be lacking.
From the broad vantage point afforded by appreciation, our journey's difficulties can elicit excitement rather than anxiety because we do not falsely believe that our current self is insufficient.
Indeed, I have found that growth becomes more enduring and enjoyable when nurtured by supportive affirmations. While seemingly counterintuitive, positivity and optimism are predictors of success rather than results of success.
In The Emotional Life of Your Brain, Dr. Richard J. Davidson writes that people who frequently experience positive emotions and believe their life is meaningful have a greater capability to alter their brain chemistry.
This helps increase their self-confidence, resilience, and creativity -- key ingredients for seeing through any new resolution. When we feel better, in other words, we do better.
For instance, even before you articulate how you are going to specify and measure improving your physical fitness, begin with gratitude for the health you already enjoy. Recall favorite moments playing sports; invite friends to join you for walks or bike rides to remind them that you treasure their company.
In this way, gratitude can help inspire intrinsic and interpersonal motivation.
This may sound obvious, but it is worth stating nonetheless: don't let the pursuit of accomplishments that you think will make you happier and healthier in the future take away from your wellbeing in the present.
Actively practicing gratitude also makes it easier to forgive ourselves and stay the course. Guided mediations often include phrases such as, "If you find your attention wandering off the breath, do not become mad at yourself, but gently return your attention to your breathing." It is an approach well-suited to all endeavors.
If your intention to eat healthier gets temporarily derailed by a greasy dinner with friends, for example, be kind to yourself and remain mindful of healthy eating during your next meal rather than allowing frustration over something that has already happened to undermine your healthy intentions further.
As Patricia Ryan Madson notes in her book Improv Wisdom, life is not a play where we all have scripts -- life is improvisation, thrilling and messy. The first rule of improv is to say "yes" to everything -- to view everything that comes as a gift, and to create from there.
Let us say "yes" to the many opportunities and blessings that will arise unexpectedly in the year ahead.
Let us commit to new changes in ourselves from a place of wholeness and acceptance. Let us venture forward for the joy of the pursuit rather than because we see "improvement" as a prerequisite for approval or self-esteem.
Let us begin with gratitude and greet all that gratitude brings. This will take us further and bring us greater fulfillment than will the best-laid plans for achieving the most audacious of goals.
Here's to the new year. I'm grateful to be able to begin.