A Fresh Outlook

By: Nick Thomas

I believe we all would agree that 2020 did not go as originally planned.

I understand that the changes we have all had to make are not really ones we desired. Masks are not fun to wear, and we forget them frequently and have to walk back to our cars for them, which is super inconvenient. But we wear them out of respect for others and in the hope of protecting ourselves. The canceled family and church gatherings and restrictions in shopping, dining out, and travel is something never imagined by most of us here in the USA. The loss of loved ones and the pain of extended separation from others has made life emotionally challenging. And if all of this is not enough, job and school procedures are now drastically different, causing a new level of stress at times, to say the least.

Since March, we have endured so much in our country, and while our special town has been spared from the most intense happenings surrounding this pandemic, it does not completely prevent the shift in our part of the world. This shift demands change, which is not an area in which most of us seem to excel. However, while I do not recommend conforming to the world surrounding you, I do highly suggest you adapt to it. Keeping the same routines are great if they are working, but when they become more of a fight than a function, it is time to change!

As we enter this new year, I would encourage you to put the past behind and not waste energy fighting the necessities of our world. Choose to embrace what you must and adapt to life so peace and success are found again. Put the energy you may have been using to resist our new normal into developing positive new ways of approaching life. We must truly live and learn.

Prioritize life, put pencil to paper and write goals and needs in life, and do not forget a few wants as well. Pull out a hard copy planner, not a phone or computer, it will help you to visualize and keep life less cluttered, more routine and better organized. I know we live by our phones; add it to your phone after writing it and keep the written to be looked at daily as a double-check.

A new year is not needed for a fresh start, but it certainly provides a good time to embrace new things, especially after such a life-changing year. I hope that we can soon say that new ways to approach life have been learned, and adapted routines have begun in order to form habits of success in this new world.
By: Nick Thomas
owner of Prime Performance Training, and Certified Sports Nutritionist