Exercise & willpower — my big hairy goal for 2017

Bron Thomson
2 min readJan 1, 2017

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Every time New Year comes around, I struggle with the resolutions I want to set for myself. Each year I end up with a list of huge things that end up being so big and hard that they of course don’t get done. A few years ago I tried to change tack by setting very small goals for myself. Like flossing regularly. Something that was eminently achievable.

This was pretty good! I succeeded in getting to the end of the year with well flossed teeth :)

After a few years of this sort of small-goal approach, this year, I’m going to try the opposite. I’m going to set myself a really really huge goal. Something that (for me) will be really REALLY hard, and something I’ve struggled with for a long time. I’m going to set myself a big hairy audacious goal that is going to be a major challenge, but something that is extremely important for me and that I’ve been putting off for a long time. Exercise.

My goal, is to exercise every single day of 2017.

Now, for a lot of you out there, I’m sure this might seem very easy and eminently achievable. But for me, I’ve never been a good, regular, exerciser. I’ve been blessed with a good metabolism and a body that has largely allowed me to do whatever I want, and eat whatever I want, and still be able to do lots of outdoor adventures without training or working hard.

But now, at the ripe old age of 45, and with two young kids, I find that I can’t just join in on a mountain bike ride and keep up like I used to. Or go for a run without struggling.

My willpower is ashamedly weak right now. I struggle to set myself a regular morning routine, or to do the things that I know are good for me — exercise, meditiation, reading, etc.

So. 2017. My challenge in setting, and achieving, a big hairy hard goal for myself — to exercise every single day of the year.

I’m going to keep track of my progress here, and make it public to help me motivate myself. Also, the good news is that there should be some great knock on benefits of this goal — being healthier, happier, having more energy, sleeping better, having better willpower that will flow on to other goals I set too. Win win!

So — here we go!

Day 1. A short (6 min/1km) run, and a 7 min workout using the ‘7M workout’ app. It’s a small start, but a start nonetheless!

Only 364 days to go… ;)

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Bron Thomson

CEO of Springload, a digital strategy and web design company in Wellington, NZ.