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Fortitude Fridays

Vol. 129: It’s Quitter’s Day—Two Ways to Make Your Resolutions Stick & More

Welcome to Fortitude Fridays—part mindset training, part field notes from real life. I share what I’m learning, testing, and using to help you strengthen your mindset, take better care of yourself, and keep showing up—week after week.

Here are a few ideas as you head into the weekend.

Read Time: 7 mins

This Week’s Snapshot:

• Quote: Don't Fight the Work
• Tactic: If → Then Plan
• Reflection: Re-entry Move

Willing vs Wanting: ​ It doesn’t make sense to continue wanting something if you’re not willing to do what it takes to get it. If you don’t want to live the lifestyle, then release yourself from the desire. To crave the result but not the process is to guarantee disappointment. -James Clear ​ Desire isn’t the problem—alignment is. When the process matches your life, consistency gets easier. When it doesn’t, you’re stuck wanting the outcome while fighting the work. Choose your path.

Tactic: If → Then Planning (For Sticking With Your Resolution)

Because your goal deserves a backup plan, not a pep talk.

Today is the second Friday in January—aka “Quitter’s Day.” It’s when the New Year shine fades and normal life shows up loud and obnoxious.

This is usually the week a lot of people quietly drop their New Year’s resolutions. Not because they’re lazy. Because the plan didn’t survive reality—and they think they already blew it.

Maybe you set the goal (or resolution) during holiday vacation. You started strong.
Then the week hit: work, school, meetings, laundry, exhaustion… the whole thing.

So if you’re sitting there thinking, “Oh well. Maybe next year…”

I get it. I’ve been there. Most of us have.

Here’s what’s usually going on:
​Your goal isn’t the problem. Your goal just needs a contingency plan.

Life will go sideways. Undoubtedly.

Not if—when. Usually at the worst possible time.

The “perfect plan” can easily die at 6:17pm—when you walk in the door late, hungry and tired.

When that moment hits—the “ah, to hell with it” moment—it helps to have something more reliable than willpower.

Here’s the Move:

Most of us build plans for ideal days.

If → Then planning is the plan for real days.

The format is simple:

IF (the obstacle), THEN (the next best action).

Here’s how you use this for your resolution:

• Name the 1–3 moments you usually fall off track.
• Then decide your “minimum viable” move for those moments—before they happen.

Examples (to make it click):

• IF my day gets blown up, THEN I do the smallest version and keep the streak alive.
• IF I’m exhausted, THEN I do 6–10 minutes and call it a win.
• IF I’m tempted to say “screw it,” THEN I take the next best action—not the perfect one.

One rule: make the THEN so simple & doable you can still do it on a rough day.

Goals don’t need more motivation. They need structure.

An ideal-day plan helps you aim. A real-life plan helps you follow through.

Bringing it home

If you’ve already slipped this week, you’re not behind—you’re just in the part where the habit actually gets built.

Your goal is fine. The plan just needs to be built for real life.

Add a contingency plan. Make it small. Make it repeatable.

Because consistency isn’t built on perfect days.
It’s built on the days life goes sideways… and you still do the next right thing.

You've got this.

Reflection: Don’t Miss Twice ​ If → Then planning helps in the sideways moment. This covers after. ​ Missing once is life. Missing twice is where it becomes a pattern. ​ So if you slip, don’t spiral and don’t wait for Monday. Make your next move a quick win. Then keep going. ​ If you miss once, what’s your simplest “re-entry move” so you don’t miss twice? Make it easy to restart.

New Surfing Record!!

Click image to watch the video.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a really great weekend. Until next time…

You got this,

P.S. If you’re new—welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. You’ve just stepped into a community of people who are showing up, doing the work, and getting after what matters. We’re all about learning, growing, and building real momentum—together. Let’s go!

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