Falling on your head hurts. There’s nothing dignified about it. You feel a particular kind of stupid and when you look up from the floor, you can’t help but wonder how you got there.

This was me a year ago.

Like countless others, I’d decided I wanted to get stronger, fitter and healthier. If I lost weight and got in ‘shape’ it would be an added bonus.

I started with with doing a personal training session a week and working to a gym plan. It was in one these sessions I was asked to do a handstand against a wall.

Easy. I got this. Can’t be that hard.

There are some occasions in life when having too much confidence is a bad thing.

I didn’t have it. Up I went, and down I came much quicker. Bang. There goes the noggin...again (I had to stop playing rugby after one too many knocks to the head). I was fine. More than anything it was funny (and a little embarrassing).

I picked myself up, dusted myself off and went again. This time it worked. It wasn’t the most elegant but there I was, upside down. Small goals accomplished. Small victories made.

It’s January and lots of people are going to end up falling on their heads - hopefully mostly metaphorically. This is no bad thing. It’s what happens next that counts.

Health and fitness aren’t something to get done. They don’t ever finish. They are active choices we make every single day. They come about through forming positive habits. Fad diets, Instagram influencers, body blitzes...they’re bullshit. 

There’s no hidden secret. Whether you want to lift heavier, run further, lose a few pounds or simply be a bit bit healthier, you can do it. What matters is enjoying it, working hard and sticking to it until the changes you make become habits.

The ‘enjoying’ part is the most important. If you don’t like running, don’t run. If you don’t like kale, don’t eat it. If you hate the gym, don’t go. But, equally, don’t expect to be able to run a marathon, lose a few pounds or hit a 100kg bench press with the wave of a magic wand. 

If you want to make a change it all starts with you and what you’re prepared to do.

If you’re using January as the spark to make changes in your life then that’s awesome but know what you’re doing it for and what you want to achieve. And make sure you enjoy it otherwise what’s the point? 

Someone once told me to view fitness as ‘endless victories.’ The only person you’re competing against is yourself and, if you stick to it and form those positive habits (whether that’s in training, your lifestyle or even your work) those victories will keep on rolling in.

And if you’re stuck, feel like giving up or really struggling look for support - having a support network around you makes everything much easier. If you want, send me a message, I’m not an expert but I’ll always do my best to help.

Accept you’ll fall on your head. 

Then pick yourself up and go again.