Start With New Year's Pre-Resolutions

What are New Year’s pre-resolutions (and how do they help your fitness resolutions)?

Pre-resolutions are the small actions you start before January:

• Going for a 15-minute walk after dinner
• Showing up to one class a week
• Doing two strength exercises at home using the GoodLife Fitness On-Demand app

They don’t look dramatic on paper. But they do something really important: they give your brain a head start. New habits usually need weeks of repetition before they feel natural. So if you begin easing into movement in December, you’re already building discipline, that way your New Year fitness resolutions feel like a continuation instead of a starting line. You might’ve seen this idea pop up on social media as “soft starts” or “pre-resets,” the trend of easing into habits at the end of the year instead of waiting for a big January push. It’s a gentler way to build momentum early, without the pressure of a full New Year reset.

A pre-resolution is basically you saying: “I don’t need a perfect date on the calendar to start taking care of myself. I’ll start small today.”

Why motivation isn’t the main character

Motivation is fun. It’s the rush you get when you save six workout videos and swear you’re going to become a morning person overnight. But motivation is also fleeting. It disappears when:

• Work gets busy
• It’s dark and cold at 5 p.m.
• You’re sore, tired, or just not feeling your best

Discipline sounds intense, but it’s really just tiny actions that build momentum. It’s you putting your runners on even when you’re not in the mood. It’s you showing up because you said you would.

Pre-resolutions help you build that kind of discipline by:

• Making the first step tiny.
  Ten minutes of movement feels doable on low-energy days.
• Letting you practice when the stakes are low.
  If you miss a day in December, you don’t feel like you “ruined” your year.
• Focusing on behaviour, not just results.
  You’re practicing showing up for yourself without the stress of perfection.

Step 1: Decide how you actually want to feel next year

Before you pick a workout plan, grab a notebook or your Notes app and answer:

• How do I want to feel most days?
  (More energized? Less stressed? Stronger? More confident walking into the gym?)
• What’s one thing I’m tired of struggling with?
  (Feeling winded on stairs, trouble sleeping, afternoon crashes, low mood…)
• If I did nothing extreme, what would a “good movement week” look like for me?

Your pre-resolutions should match your real life. For example:

“I want to feel less anxious and sleep better” could turn into:
“I’ll move my body three times a week and walk outside on one of those days.” That’s a simple, clear plan without the stress.

Step 2: Pick your soft start habits (keep them tiny on purpose)

Here’s where most fitness resolutions get sidetracked: everything changes at once. You don’t need a full makeover. All you need are a few healthy workout habits and tweaks in behaviour you can repeat.

Pick one or two from this list to start:

• Go for a 10–15 minute walk after work three days a week.
• Do two strength training exercises at home twice a week using the GoodLife Fitness On-Demand app (think squats and rows or glute bridges and pushups).
• Commit to one class a week at your local GoodLife at the same day, same time.
• Swap one “scroll before bed” night for light stretching or a short yoga video.

If you like structure, you can also book a free consultation with a GoodLife personal trainer and ask for a very simple plan to follow over the next four to six weeks.

The goal here is to collect small wins and prove to yourself: “I can actually stick to this.”

Step 3: Make it easy to show up

Discipline is easier when the tension is low. Set up your environment so pre-resolutions feel almost automatic:

• Pick your days and times.
  Example:
  • Tuesday and Thursday right after work
  • Saturday morning class
• Pack ahead.
  Have your gym bag, water bottle, and headphones ready the night before. Leave your shoes by the door.
• Have a “Plan B” workout.
  On days you can’t get to the gym, have a 10–20 minute at-home routine ready to go. (If you need ideas, a beginner strength guide like Full-body Beginner Strength-training Workout  can help you choose a few moves.)
• Use the 10-minute rule.
  Promise yourself: “I just have to move for 10 minutes. If I still want to stop after that, I can.”

Momentum can keep you going. Most of the time, once you start, you’ll keep going. But even if you don’t, you still followed through on your promise.

Step 4: Expect some off days (and plan for them)

Even with the best plan, you’ll have days where you’re tired, overwhelmed, or just not in the mood.

Pre-resolutions are about learning how you respond when things don’t go as planned.

When you miss a workout:

1. Skip the guilt spiral. You didn’t “wreck everything.” You missed a day.
2. Look at the week, not the day. Ask, “Can I still fit in two movement days this week?” and adjust.
3. Check your capacity. Are you sleeping enough? Eating regularly? Sometimes the softest thing you can do for your health is take a proper rest day.

If you notice the gym itself is what’s holding you back, it might be gym nerves more than discipline. Trying a class or bringing a friend can make things feel way less intimidating. Partner Workouts: Fun Exercises & Fitness Motivation with a Gym Buddy is a good place to start.

Step 5: Use the pre-resolution window to test what you like

One of the best parts of starting before January is that it gives you a low-pressure test drive for your New Year workout routine.

Over the next few weeks, pay attention to:

• What you actually enjoy.
  Do you feel more like yourself in a class, on the weight floor, or in the cardio section?
• Which times feel easiest.
  Are mornings surprisingly calm? Is lunch better than after work?
• What helps your mood the most.
  Maybe a short strength session clears your head more than a long run. Maybe yoga at the end of the week helps you leave work stress at the door.

Use this information to tweak your plan for the new year. If you’re not sure where to start, booking a session with a personal trainer  and saying, “Here’s what I tried in December, how can we build from this?” is a great next step.

 

Your gentle challenge: pick one pre-resolution today

The best thing about starting early is that when January 1 comes around, you’re not gearing up for a whole new routine, you’re already in motion. You’ll know which days feel easiest to move, which workouts you enjoy, and you’ll have a few small wins behind you to prove you can follow through.

January stops feeling so intense and just becomes the next week in a rhythm you’ve already built.

So let’s keep this simple: pick one pre-resolution today. Just one.

It could be:

·       Walking to the gym instead of driving when the weather cooperates

·       Booking one class for next week

·       Doing a quick 10-minute stretch before bed

·       Or finally booking that consult you keep meaning to schedule.

Make it light. Make it realistic. And treat it as the first small nudge toward a healthier year.

Start your soft reset now.
Book a consultation with a GoodLife Trainer or check your club’s group fitness schedule and turn your pre-resolutions into real-life habits.