2018 is here! Tradition dictates that we invent at least one resolution we can stick to for 365 days. Often we bite off more than we can chew and find that once shiny resolution on the dusty floor of a year gone by. Here are five suggestions from Sundog Running that might help you hold fast to those tough to wrangle New Year’s resolutions.

1) Sleep:

We have no choice but to succeed with this first resolution, because without sleep we’ll perish.
“Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain,” says Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist and director of the Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkley. “Every disease that is killing us in developed nations has causal and significant links to a lack of sleep.” Listen to Walker’s entire revealing Fresh Air interview.
“By simply incorporating more of it into our daily lives we can become faster, react quicker on rough trail, power uphill, and recover rapidly,” Coach Ian writes in his iRunFar column. “What’s more, it’s free, convenient, and legal.”
Stop losing steps, indulge yourself in 2018 and strive for that much needed additional hour (or three) of slumber each night.

2) Eat:

Again, this is an act we must perform to survive. So, you win again! By simply lifting a fork, you’ve accomplished another New Year’s resolution. However, the devil is always in the details. It’s what’s on the fork that makes this resolution so tricky. Choose foods that not only satiate your hunger, but go the extra mile to nurture your developing body. Make eating optimally easier.

1. Select your foods from the outer parameter of the grocery store. This is where you’ll find most unprocessed foods like vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, meats and seafood.
2. If you venture into the center aisles of the market read the ingredient labels. If there’s a component that makes you squirm then place that item back on the shelf, find something similar (but without repugnant component) or go without.
3. If you’re lucky enough to have a farmer’s market in your area, take advantage of it often.

3) Read:

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations — you’ve achieved resolution number #3! But don’t stop reading here. Have you ever wondered what makes people successful?
“Grit is a significant predictor of success,” says Angela Lee Duckworth, the author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. “Stick with your future and live life like a marathon not a sprint.”
Read Duckworth’s book and decipher why success has nothing to do with talent and discover why failure is never a permanent condition.

4) Exercise:

Not too tough to win on resolution #4 since most of the folks receiving this newsletter are athletes. However, moving in a more balanced and efficient manner in 2018 might be tougher for some of us than others. Tackle these two reads and you’ll gain some insight on how to exercise more frequently and pain-free in the New Year.

1. “A proper recovery requires as much effort, discipline, and focus as training. Develop a strategy now. Investing a few minutes today will prevent long periods of injury downtime tomorrow.” Study how to achieve a realistic training load in Coach Ian’s piece called Recovery.
2. We’ve just picked up Jay Dicharry’s new book Running Rewired and can’t put it down. “For better or for worse, your body drives your form. Old injuries, mobility problems, fatigue, wear and tear — these reveal themselves in how you move when you run,” says the book’s jacket. With bountiful pages of strength, stability and mobility self-assessments and workouts included, this paperback is bound to open your eyes to your own deficiencies.

5) Strategize:

This is definitely the toughest of our five resolutions. Planning requires vision and the resolve to remain loyal to the dream. This is the resolution that you must return to daily, weekly and monthly in order to reaffirm and carry through on in 2018.
To best create the year’s ultimate plan, make SMART goals. Professor Robert S. Rubin, an associate editor of the Academy of Management Learning and Education and the co-director of DePaul University’s Business Education Insider, created this acronym as a guide to set objectives.

1. Specific (simple, sensible, significant)
2. Measurable (meaningful, motivating)
3. Achievable (attainable, agreed)
4. Relevant (reasonable, realistic, results-based)
5. Time bound (time/cost limited, time limited, timely, time-sensitive)

This process will help you: “Clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, use your time and resources productively, and increase your chances of achieving what you want.” Before New Year’s Day passes into the rearview, carve out a quiet time and place to write down your SMART goals. Bring others special to you into your fold and share your 2018 plans with them — they’ll help you stay accountable.

With or without a declaration attached, sleeping, eating, reading, exercising and planning are tasks we do everyday. However, by maximizing the ordinary we can do the extraordinary.

Happy New Year!