Why Mindfulness Beats a List of New Year's Goals (And How It Helps Runners)

New Year, Same You - and Why That’s OK.

With the onset of the new year, I found myself thinking about all the things I wanted to achieve - and, like so many of us, I started making a list of these outcomes. Feeling excited and accomplished, I finished up my list and set about my day.

Later that evening, however, I came back to the list - and to be honest, didn't love what I found. Instead of the inspirational manifesto I'd intended to create, what I saw on the paper looked more like a harsh list of faults. Not only that, but how was I supposed to keep track of all these different goals?

When we want to achieve various different outcomes, what if we could find the common thread that connects them and pursue that instead?

When we think about the most common goals we're after - eating healthier, exercising more, and saving more money - there's one trait that stands out which helps us with each and every one. That trait is mindfulness.

Focusing on cultivating a habit of mindfulness (or attention to the present moment) allows us to recognize the obstacles that stand in the way of every one of our goals - from the voice that tells us we'll start exercising consistently tomorrow, to the stress that gets us to reach for food when we're not really hungry. Research has shown that mindfulness-based interventions can lead to meaningful weight loss, with participants losing an average of 6.8 to 7.5 pounds (Carrière et al., 2018).

Using mindfulness as a goal also allows us to focus on intrinsic motivation, or a desire for self-growth, rather than extrinsic motivation like numbers on a scale or the speed of a run. As luck would have it, intrinsic goals are much easier to keep than extrinsic ones. Self-determination theory research demonstrates that intrinsic motivation leads to enhanced self-motivation and well-being, while external rewards can actually undermine our natural drive (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Mindfulness has tremendous use in physical therapy. In runners and other endurance athletes that I treat, mindfulness can often be the bulwark between pushing too hard and giving oneself grace. Studies have found that mindfulness-based interventions improve athletic performance, with moderate-to-large effects on enhancing flow, acceptance, and self-compassion in athletes (Noetel et al., 2023).

Luckily, Arlington offers plenty of running trails on which practicing mindfulness is a pleasure.

As a physical therapist treating runners, triathletes, and individuals with persistent pain, I like to incorporate mindfulness as a tool in both my own routines and in patient recovery programs.

One simple exercise is to pause when you're about to start a workout - and ask yourself how your body is feeling in that moment. Be honest with yourself. Depending on the answer, you may want to adjust the intensity of the exercise accordingly - for example, a day where we feel drained is not the best day to push too hard, if at all. That kind of mindful awareness may cause you to slow down in the moment - but if it prevents injury recurrence, it speeds you up on your progress towards your goals.

My main New Year's resolution is to work on mindfulness. Each day, I aim to perform one activity mindfully - be it washing the dishes or walking the dog - with the knowledge that in a more mindful space, all my goals are within reach.

Interested in learning more techniques to combat pain and injury?

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