2025 January 7 Little steps to big changes

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 Hi, I’m Jim Cranston from 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com, the podcast and website about reimagining your life. Thanks for joining me today! We’ll be talking about some different ways to set goals and resolutions, so let’s dive in. If you like what you hear, don’t forget to leave a like, subscribe, tell your friends, or even send me a message.

Tonight, we’re focusing on giving yourself a little grace when setting goals—yes, even New Year’s resolutions. I recently came across a statistic that said roughly 45% of people have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. And, as of this recording on January 7th, that’s not exactly a promising start!

First, I want to wish you a Happy New Year. I hope your year is off to a great start. But if it’s not, that’s okay too. What’s important is that you’re considering a plan to make it a great year. Remember, we all have the power to change—change ourselves and even the world around us. I hope you’re feeling hopeful about what’s ahead.

By the way, if you watched the movie I mentioned last time, Feeling Through on Omeleto, let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It’s a touching and inspiring story.

For tonight, I wanted to touch on something that’s been a popular reference point for goal-setting: a fitness and focus challenge called 75 Hard. It’s intense, but it offers an interesting framework for commitment and self-discipline.

The idea behind 75 Hard was to stick to a highly regimented set of fitness and self-improvement goals. The structure was very strict—if you missed a single day, you were supposed to start over from the beginning. No excuses. It was a straightforward do it or start over kind of approach.

I knew some folks who followed through with it, and to their credit, they felt great by the end. Not only had they developed healthy habits, but they also gained a sense of accomplishment from keeping their commitment to themselves, which is hugely important. So, there’s definitely value in that.

However, while this type of challenge can be excellent for critical improvement or a short-term push, is that really sustainable as we get older? Life changes as we take on more responsibilities—careers, families, health concerns, and so on. The rigid, all-or-nothing mindset of 75 Hard might not be practical for most of us in the long term. And what comes after the 75 days? Do we just start another challenge?

For many of us, the number 75 hard could just as easily represent years, not days. We've been at this for a long time—we know what works for us and what doesn’t. Sometimes we’ve just gotten a bit lax with the habits we know are good for us. And that’s okay. Life evolves, and so do our priorities.

As we age, our goals and responsibilities shift. Dropping everything to work out twice a day might not be feasible when you’re juggling things like supporting a spouse, helping a family member get to a medical appointment, or handling other pressing commitments. It’s about finding balance and giving ourselves grace.

A little realism has to come into play here—a reality check, if you will. For example, if something unexpected comes up during your workout time, it might be worth reevaluating. One scenario that comes to mind is an old friend calling you up out of the blue, saying, Hey, I’m in town! Can we catch up? The value of reconnecting with an old friend might easily outweigh the 15-minute brisk walk you had planned.

Of course, you could combine the two and go for a walk together, which would be even better. But if not, that’s okay, too. Things naturally change as we get older. That’s why programs like 75 Hard have inspired alternatives like 75 Soft—a gentler version. However, even 75 Soft includes its share of rigid rules, like specific water intake requirements and other strict guidelines.

At this point in my life, I’m open to just about any health advice, but I always weigh it against a lifetime of tweaking how I live. My goal is to find a balance that lets me feel good while still living within healthy boundaries.

This brings me to another trend: the Winter Arc. This one gained traction on TikTok and is designed to improve daily habits and overall health while giving you a jumpstart on the new year. It started back in October, so its intended timeline technically ends before New Year’s. Still, the concept is interesting and has some notable differences from 75 Soft.

The Winter Arc is both longer and more flexible. It allows for late starts—something unheard of in 75 Hard—and provides more variation in acceptable goals. Instead of following a set of predefined rules, you’re encouraged to define your own priorities: What’s important to me? What do I know will make my life better?

It’s a much more individualized approach, which, for many of us, can feel more sustainable and meaningful.

If you look up the goals people have set for the Winter Arc, you’ll find they’re all over the map. And that’s exactly how it should be—these goals are tailored to the individual. The beauty of this program is its flexibility. It’s designed to be longer in duration and can be repeated with variations, which helps keep things fresh. When you’re stuck doing the same regimen over and over, it’s easy to get bored, but this approach avoids that pitfall.

And that flexibility brings us to a key point about goals, whether they’re related to lifestyle, health, or even New Year’s resolutions. The central aim of programs like 75 Hard, 75 Soft, or the Winter Arc is to create a shift in your mindset. You’ve probably heard the idea that it takes about 75 or 90 days for something to become a habit. These challenges are built around that concept—stick with it long enough, and the changes are more likely to become part of your daily routine.

But here’s the thing: simply sticking to a challenge for a set period isn’t enough to truly shift your mindset. For that to happen, your new routine has to align with your real goals. And tracking your progress toward those goals is just as important.

It’s also crucial to define goals that are both relevant and flexible. For example, instead of saying, I want to lose 10 pounds by April, you might set a goal like, I want to increase my exercise time by one minute each day for two weeks. You could pair that with a commitment like, I’ll only have dessert at one meal each day. These smaller, more manageable steps can still lead you toward your bigger goal, like weight loss, but they’re easier to measure and maintain on a daily basis.

Personally, I’m one of those people who likes to track things closely. I’m nowhere near as meticulous as Tim Ferriss, but I do weigh myself every single day. It’s just a way for me to stay mindful of where I’m at and how my habits are influencing my progress.

I’ve actually been tracking my weight daily for 10 or 15 years now. My weight can fluctuate quite a bit—easily a few pounds in a single day—depending on what I’ve been doing. Since I’m a smaller person, those changes show up more dramatically as a percentage of my total body weight. For example, if I’ve spent the day working outside in hot weather, I might weigh myself afterward and see that I’m two pounds lighter.

Of course, that’s not muscle loss—at least I certainly hope it’s not! It’s just water loss. But here’s where things can get tricky: if you forget about what you did the day before and weigh yourself the next day, you might see that you’re up a pound. Suddenly, you’re thinking, I can’t believe I gained a pound today! That’s it, I’m not eating anything tomorrow to lose it again.

But maybe you had some salty chips the day before, which caused you to retain more water—that’s why the scale went up. Then, after cutting back the next day, you weigh yourself again and find you’ve lost three pounds. Now you’re left wondering: Should I be happy because I lost more than expected? Or worried because I didn’t mean to drop that much weight?

When you look at things over the longer term, it’s easier to average out those fluctuations. That’s one of the big advantages of focusing on a goal instead of tying yourself to a strict challenge. Little bumps in the road aren’t a big deal. By giving yourself some grace, those minor fluctuations—whether in weight, progress, or even something like finances—won’t derail you.

For example, if you’re trying to save more money and suddenly remember, Oh no, I forgot about this quarterly bill that’s due, it’s not the end of the world. Instead, it’s a learning moment: Okay, I’ll plan to leave a little more in the account next time so I’m ready for those less frequent expenses.

The key to all of this is allowing yourself some grace and flexibility. By focusing on the steps that lead to a bigger goal, you’re setting yourself up for long-term success. Those small, sustainable changes are far less demanding, which makes them easier to stick with over time. And ultimately, that’s what leads to lasting lifestyle improvements.

Doing a 75 Hard challenge can be great, but could you sustain something like a 150-day hard challenge or even a one-year hard challenge? For most people, probably not—it’s just too demanding. But if you shift to a longer-term strategy, where you set big goals and break them down into smaller, manageable steps, you create a more realistic path. Spread those steps out over weeks or even months, and now you’ve got a plan that’s both achievable and sustainable.

This kind of approach naturally leads to long-term lifestyle changes because it integrates into your daily life without overwhelming you. Instead of focusing on every single detail—like counting the exact number of glasses of water you’ve had—you can ask yourself broader questions: Did I drink plenty of water today? Yes? Great, that’s progress. It’s less about perfection and more about progress.

With this mindset, even small setbacks don’t derail you because you’re still moving down the path toward success. And that’s what matters—continuing to move forward. This process also gives you flexibility. You can start whenever you want. Who says you need the New Year to begin? If you missed January 1st, it doesn’t matter. Maybe you have a summer cruise coming up, and you want to feel more fit by then. Great! Set your goal for the summer, define the steps that will get you there, and work through them at your own pace.

It’s not about saying, Oh no, it’s January 5th, and I haven’t hit this target yet, so I’ve failed. As long as you’re making progress along the path, you’re already succeeding. If things aren’t going as planned, you can adjust without guilt. Maybe you thought five minutes of exercise a day would be enough, but it’s not, so you decide to up it to 20 minutes. Or maybe you realize that your original plan of working out for an hour every day is too much, and you scale it back to something more manageable.

The point is, this is a long-term goal. The daily ups and downs are just steps along the way. And through it all, it’s important to remember to build in some fun—whether it’s in the activities themselves, how you approach them, or even who you’re doing them with. Fun makes the process enjoyable, and that’s what helps you stick with it for the long haul.

I want to remind everyone about areas of need around the world. Whether it’s Ukraine, the Middle East, or another region experiencing hardship, there are ways to help. For Ukraine specifically, check out links at UKR7.com. It provides ways to support Ukraine directly or indirectly.

If Ukraine isn’t your focus, there’s always the World Central Kitchen at WCK.org, which does incredible work providing meals in disaster areas worldwide. They’re an amazing organization making a real difference.

But let’s not forget, you don’t have to donate money to make a difference. Supporting local organizations in your area is just as impactful. Even if monetary contributions aren’t possible, you always have the power to brighten someone’s day in small ways—listening for a few moments, offering a smile, wishing someone well. Little gestures can ripple outwards and bring genuine happiness to someone’s life.

Remember, one of the best ways to care for yourself is by caring for others. It shifts your focus outward, changing your perspective and often bringing a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

That’s it for this evening! I wish you a wonderful New Year—a happy, safe, and fulfilling one full of progress. Thank you so much for stopping by. If you found something helpful or interesting, please share it, subscribe, and hit that like button. If not, drop me a comment about what you’d like to see in the future. Wishing you a fantastic week and an incredible year ahead. Remember to live the life you dream of—that’s the path to true contentment. Sending love and encouragement to everyone.

See you next week on 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com! Thank you.