New year's resolutions
As I go into the pool or the gym over the past week (it’s January the 9th) I see many new faces starting afresh. While it’s great that many people want to start the new year by becoming healthier, most fail. Which is sad but predictable. The regulars at the gym and the pool complain and then console themselves with “they’ll all be gone by next month. Have you ever wondered why so many people fail when they try to get fit? The lazy answer is that they just don’t have the willpower. Why people need willpower to do something that is good for them, eludes me. I am interested in how people change their minds. I’ve met many adults that have had a phobia of the water or swimming their whole lives, so why do they take the first step? The most common answer is children. Having children and not wanting to pass on your phobia is a huge motivator. Often it is social pressure. Being a foreigner in Finland involves being invited to friends' Mökki or summer cottage. Most Mökki are close to a lake and people enjoy a cold dip after the sauna. Feeling excluded is a strong motivator. In my experience people that stick to a new activity or lifestyle need a strong motivation to stick at it. There is a book “The first 20 hours. How to learn anything fast” by Josh Kaufman. In it he describes how the first 20 hours of a new activity you learn are the steep part of the learning curve. When, if you can overcome the first challenging 20 hours of practice you can get to a level where you can enjoy the task for the sake of it. Obviously I relate this to swimming. In my experience I can teach a person without a phobia to swim 2 strokes effectively enough to swim 25 meters in 10 hours. Then after that most people still need time in the water but they have the tools to break the stroke down and do deliberate practice alone. A major part of goal setting is being specific. It is useful to use SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Timed. So in the case of a swimming new year resolution a new swimmer may say “I'd like to swim 25 meters frontcrawl in 10 weeks.” For many people entering an event is the motivation they need. For example, the goal of finishing a 1500m open water swim may be challenging enough. As the event will have a date the clock starts ticking from the moment you enter. Each year I have some goal I'd like to achieve. Whether it's beating a time from a previous year or entering an event that is scary enough that it motivates me to exercise regularly. Hopefully I'll see you in the pool after January.
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