New year! New me?

New year New me ! You are what you eat! You reap what you sow! Monkey see monkey do! We have all heard of those sayings.

The other day while I was on the living room floor stretching, getting ready for a workout, Norah-Elise came in and said “daddy I want to excersize too”. She dropped on the floor and started doing burpees. Just like that instead of my ordinary weight lifting session I was on the floor going through a bodyweight circuit with her. I certainly didn’t wake up with the intention of teaching my daughter that fitness was important or fun or even something to do. But somehow I managed to passively pass on a habit.

I play basketball every Tuesday and my son always wants to come but since it ends at 10 pm I’ve always said no. Well, the last week of school before the Christmas break I decided to take him with me. To my surprise he watched us play and stayed off my phone. On the ride home before falling asleep he told me he wants to be big so he can play with us. I was giddy inside because ball is life and now my son is looking to the future (the next Steph Curry,no?!?)

I look forward to the day my kids ask me to play and work out with them. I want to be able to play, keep up and hold my own when they are 16, 20, 25 heck even 30. I want to be able to play and participate in whatever sports my kids decide to play in their teens.

Of course they are many benefits to excersizing and living a healthy lifestyle but for me I know that monkey see monkey do. My way of life not only affects me but It will impact my kids and their kids and so on. Children are amazing mimicking machines, the more great habits you can display in yourself the more they will have for themselves.

So if you are using the new year as motivation to start a new path or get back on the horse, think of your kids I find them to be a better more lasting reason to stay motivated versus an arbitrary day on the calendar.

Pierre Richard Ducasse