Ep #185: How to Finally Follow Through This Year: 3 Simple Non-Negotiables

This is the Strong Is a Mindset podcast, Episode #185. Today, we’re talking about the only three things you actually need to change your life in 2026. Not twelve resolutions, not a life overhaul. Just three non-negotiables that will make this the year you actually follow through.

This is the Strong Is a Mindset podcast, where you’ll learn how to build both a strong body and a strong mind by eating, moving, and thinking. I’m your host Physician, Personal Trainer, Certified Health Coach and Certified Life Coach, Carrie Holland. 

Hey, how are you? What’s new? What’s good? So, what’s good here? Well, it’s the start of the new year. Welcome to 2026. And I hope you had some downtime, some time with your people, and maybe a few days where you didn’t even know what day it was. Of course, in the best way possible. And now, real life is officially back. And while your planner is still pretty and motivation is still high, at the same time, regular work hours have resumed, kids are back to school, and your inbox might just be a dumpster fire from being off for the holidays. And suddenly, your big, shiny January goals feel a little less doable than they did on January 1st, before real life settled in again.

If you’re feeling that right now, that weird mix of new year motivation combined with, holy cow, everything is happening all at once now that the holidays are over, you are not alone. So here’s the thing about January that no one talks about. It’s exciting, but it’s also overwhelming. You’ve got the tools, maybe new workout gear, a schedule, color-coded spreadsheets, containers for your salads. So, you’re ready. You’re motivated. Maybe you’re determined that this will be your year. But then, real life happens, like emails and schedules, and exhaustion from jumping back into your routine that’s full of things like kids’ sports, work deadlines, or conferences. And suddenly, your January goals feel a whole lot less manageable than they did on January 1st.

And maybe, as things kick back into gear this week, you might feel a slight tug of discouragement. Like, oh jeez, here we go again. If you’re feeling nervous about how to keep from slipping right back into your usual habits, I got you. I’ve been there, so have my clients, and so has nearly every overachieving woman I’ve ever coached. So today, we’re going to do things differently. I want to give you the antidote to the January overhaul because here’s the truth: this year is not about more goals. It’s not about bigger plans or fancier trackers or finally discovering the meal planning system that magically makes you consistent. This year is about more follow-through. It’s about becoming the woman who actually does what she says she’ll do. Not because she’s perfect, not because she white-knuckles her way through January, but because she chooses simple, sustainable habits she can stick with all year long.

And that is where we’re going today. So today, I’m going to walk you through three simple non-negotiables: how you eat, how you move, and how you think. Because those three things, when done consistently, are what will actually change your year. All right? So, let’s go.

So, I’ll be honest, I am not really a New Year’s resolution person. I don’t tend to wake up on January 1 with a whole new color-coded life plan. I don’t reinvent myself in January. I mostly try to remember what day it is and get myself back into a routine after the holidays come and go. And even though I don’t do a big January overhaul, I coach a lot of women who do, and year after year, I see the same pattern. January feels like a clean slate. So, you get excited, you make the plan, and you decide this is the year you’re really going to change your eating, your workouts, your sleep, your stress, your entire life.

And honestly, that excitement makes sense. We all love a fresh start. There is hope when you pull out a new calendar and have an entire year ahead of you. But often, while you have the gear and the water bottle and the planner, sometimes, you forget that real life can make this really hard. Work ramps up, schedules get messy, someone gets sick, or you just get tired. And suddenly, all of that January motivation doesn’t feel as strong as it did a week ago.

And this is where things tend to fall apart, not because you’re lazy and not because you don’t care, and definitely not because something’s wrong with you. It’s because most of us were taught that January is the time for overhauls. But overhauls are really hard to sustain. They may look great in a planner or in a spreadsheet, and they may feel amazing for a minute. But your overhaul doesn’t last when you’re tired or stressed or overwhelmed, which is real life. So, when your plan stops being perfect, when you miss a workout or snack more than you meant to, or you’re just too wiped out to make the dinner you prepped, you assume you’ve blown it. And that’s when frustration sets in, and you start negotiating with yourself. And before you know it, you’ve slipped back into the same old patterns.

And that frustration that you feel, that feeling of why can’t I just stick with this? That’s what I want to dive into today because the problem isn’t you, the problem is the approach. I want to help you shake the idea that you need to suddenly become a different person by February. Instead, I want to offer you something much simpler and, in my experience, much more effective. Because when you strip away all the hype around new year, new you, what actually creates change is not a big and complicated plan. Instead, it’s a handful of small habits you can show up for when life gets busy. And that’s what I’m going to help you create: something simple, doable, and sustainable.

And this is exactly where your non-negotiables come in. And the first rule of thumb here is less is more. So let me explain what I mean. One of the biggest mistakes I see at this time of year, especially with my high achievers, is trying to change too many things at once. You might have a list of ten new habits, eight goals, three different routines, and then you wonder why you can’t keep up with all of it. And I get it. Your brain loves the idea of more: more goals, more structure, more options, more intention. And maybe there’s a part of you that feels safer when you’re juggling a lot, like if you cover all the bases, you’ll finally get the results you want.

But what I see over and over again, in myself, in my clients, and basically every overachiever I coach, is that when you try to change everything at once, you actually make it harder to stay consistent with anything. And not because you’re doing something wrong, but because no human can sustain that much change all at once. Instead of the all-or-nothing overhaul, and instead of going for broke, I want you to simplify. I want you to pick three non-negotiables that become your anchor this year. Three habits that give you a foundation, three habits that help you stay steady when everything around you feels chaotic.

Okay? So let’s walk through what those three non-negotiables can look like in how you eat, how you move, and how you think. Let’s start with your first non-negotiable, how you eat. I want to give you some ideas to consider when you’re deciding a non-negotiable for yourself related to your eating. And if you’ve been around here for a while, you know exactly where I’m going: protein.

And before I go any further on this, yes, there are some people who think that we focus too much on protein at the expense of other parts of our diets. And I’ll be the first to admit that most of us could stand to have more fiber in our diets as well. But if we’re talking about this from a satiety, weight loss, muscle retaining, or even muscle building perspective, it’s protein every single time. And most women simply aren’t getting enough, especially early in the day. And you don’t realize it until you write it down. So you might think you’re fine, but you might be eating 40 to 50 grams of protein a day and wondering why you’re starving by 3 p.m. or wandering into the pantry every night for snacks.

And this is exactly why protein makes such a great non-negotiable. It’s simple, it’s clear, and it makes a huge difference in balancing your hunger, your cravings, and your energy. So, a really simple non-negotiable could be, I get protein at two meals a day. And if you want a little more guidance without overthinking it, aim for about 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal, or visually, make at least a quarter of your plate protein. That’s enough to make a difference without turning your meals into a math problem. Okay?

And this is one I am personally recommitting to in 2026. I need to stop pretending that peanut butter is a protein because as much as I love it, it’s really more of a fat than it is a protein. And I have to act like I know that and put it into practice, especially at breakfast. All right. Another of my favorite non-negotiables related to eating is planning. And planning does not mean spending your Sunday creating twelve different Pinterest meals. Really, when I talk about planning, all I mean is that you decide ahead of time what you’re going to eat.

So, for some people, that means planning out the whole week in one sitting. For others, that’s planning out tomorrow’s food tonight. And both work. There is no one right way to do this. Now, what doesn’t work, and I say this with respect and maybe just a little bit of tough love here, is winging it. Winging it is where overeating, snacking, grazing, and “I’ll just figure it out,” that’s where those things live. And that is not going to work. I’ve never had a client succeed when she took the approach of I’ll just figure it out. No.

Instead, have a plan. I will have a salad every night at dinner. I will make a bunch of turkey burgers or chicken breasts on Sunday and have those ready to eat throughout the week. It does not matter what it is, but have a plan because planning ahead takes the emotion out of your decisions. Planning ahead has you covered when you’re exhausted from a terrible day at work and you don’t want to think about what’s for dinner. You’ve already decided, it’s done. You don’t have to spend extra brain energy on it when you’re already fried.

So, in our house, planning looks like meal prepping our proteins every Sunday. That’s it. We batch cook chicken, ground turkey taco meat, and turkey burgers so the biggest legwork is done before the work week even starts. And it makes our week so much easier. So, your non-negotiable, if you choose to focus on planning, could be something like, I plan what I eat the day before. That’s it. Nothing wild here.

And then, the last eating non-negotiable that I have seen help so many clients is to write down what you actually eat. So, this means some form of food journaling to give you awareness. And no, this does not mean calorie counting or macros or obsessing. It’s just writing down what you actually eat so you can see the reality of your day in front of you. Because here is what I see all the time: clients will tell me, I don’t eat that much, or I don’t snack that often, or really, it’s just dinner that gets messy.

But then, when we get it on paper, there are bites, tastes, handfuls, second servings, and snacks that are happening almost automatically. And here’s the key thing to know: journaling does not judge you, okay? It just gives you data, real, honest data. And when you can see what you’re actually doing, not what you think you’re doing, that is when you have a clearer pathway to change. If you don’t have real data, you’re really just guessing, and that doesn’t help you. So, another eating non-negotiable could be, I write down what I eat, minus the judgment, okay? That keeps things concrete. It takes away the guesswork and it allows you to make changes based on reality instead of memory.

Okay? So to pull this all together, your non-negotiable related to eating could be prioritizing protein, planning your meals ahead of time, or journaling what you actually eat. You don’t need all three, just pick one, one habit you can commit to and make it work for you. And then go practice it. Okay?

So, now, let’s shift gears and talk about your second non-negotiable: how you move. And if there’s one message I want you to hear as we head into the new year, it’s this: movement does not have to be perfect to count. So many of the women I work with get stuck in an all-or-nothing trap. If they can’t do a 45-minute Peloton ride, or an hour of weights, or a 5-mile run, then they don’t do anything. And that mindset is one of the biggest roadblocks keeping you stuck.

So, remember that movement is cumulative. It all counts. So it’s not about performing the perfectly boxed 45-minute textbook workout. Instead, it’s about finding ways to move your body regularly, even when your life is chaotic. And for many of the women I work with, the simplest and most effective non-negotiable is to create a daily movement minimum, something like five minutes of movement a day or a 10-minute walk after dinner.

And yes, I know that when you hear five minutes, you might reflexively think to yourself, that is not enough. And that’s the point. Five minutes is doable on your busiest days, your most tired days, your overwhelmed days. And the truth is, if you commit to five minutes, you will often end up doing more, but even if you don’t, you’ve still honored your habit. You’ve kept yourself in the game. And that consistency is what actually moves the needle. Remember, you’re not lowering your standards, you’re just lowering the point of entry so you can actually do the work.

So, think of the worst day you’ve had in a while. Think of how busy you were, how stressed you might have been, how strapped for time you might have been. Now, what sounds more reasonable to you on that day? Five minutes of movement or a 45-minute hit workout on your bike? All right? So, you’re just making the minimum accessible to you so you actually do it.

Your second non-negotiable option, and the one I love for all women and men too, especially as we get older, is strength training. I would love to see you do it at least twice a week. But if that seems impossible to you, start with once a week. So, please remember that strength is not optional anymore. Lifting weights, challenging your muscles, doing resistance work, this is what keeps your muscles and your metabolism working for you as you get older. Strength training is great for your body, but it also builds your confidence, improves your energy, and honestly, it shapes the way you feel in every part of your life.

And this does not have to be fancy. It can be two 25-minute sessions at home. It can be a full body circuit, whatever works for you. It just needs to happen regularly. And now, a third option for your movement non-negotiable is to anchor your movement to something you already do every day. So, this is especially helpful if you’re someone who likes structure. You might decide that you walk after dinner every night, or you stretch for 10 minutes before bed, or you do a quick mobility routine while your coffee brews in the morning.

So all you’re doing here is finding a space in your day where movement makes sense, and then you go do it. Because here is what we know about movement and habit: when movement is tied to an existing routine, it becomes more automatic. You don’t have to negotiate with yourself. It just becomes part of the flow of your day. And I had a client who worked really hard on this. She made a plan that once her kids left for school, she put on her shoes and went for a walk. And that’s a great example because it was tied to something she already did every day, getting her kids out the door. So, she put on her shoes while her kids were putting their shoes on, and when they left for the bus, she left for her walk.

And you can do this too. Find where it makes sense. Find where you can attach movement to something that you already do every single day. And make it small and you can build from there. Okay? So, those are some movement options. Setting a movement minimum, committing to strength training, or anchoring your movement to something that you already do. And just like your eating non-negotiables, you only need one. Pick one simple, small, doable habit that helps you stay consistent, especially on the hard days, and practice that. All right?

Now, let’s talk about your third non-negotiable, and that is how you think. And I’ll be honest, this is often the hardest one, but it’s also the key piece that changes everything else. Because you can have the best plan in the world for how you eat and how you move, but if your mindset is working against you, staying consistent with your habits is going to feel like a constant uphill battle. Most of us walk around with thoughts we don’t even realize we’re thinking, and those thoughts drive our habits. And it’s subtle. If your default thinking sounds like, I never follow through, then you won’t. You won’t follow through. And if you tell yourself, I don’t have time to plan my food, you won’t. Your actions will line up with whatever story you’re believing in that moment, even if you’re not aware it’s happening. And that is why awareness is a big part of this non-negotiable.

And I do not mean in a heavy, journal for an hour kind of way. I mean in a simple, doable way that helps you catch the thoughts that are shaping your choices. One option here is a 10-second pause once a day. Just notice what you’re thinking and name it. I feel overwhelmed. I feel stressed. I feel defeated. Name it. And you’re not fixing anything. You’re just bringing some honesty to what’s happening in your mind. And that alone can shift your day.

When you name a thought, you pull it out of the background and into awareness. And the minute you’re aware of it, you have a little more control over what you do next. You’re not just blindly following that thought anymore. And the best part about this is that there is zero barrier to entry here, and you have nothing to gain but awareness. You just have to commit to thinking about it. All right?

And another option, one I really like, is choosing a grounding sentence you come back to. So this is a phrase or a sentence you repeat on purpose, especially when things get hard, that helps bring you back to yourself. So that might be something like, I am okay. I can do what I said I was going to do. Or it might even be your own mantra. For me, it’s the same three words I’ve been telling myself for at least a year: calm, control, release. Those words are what bring me back to earth and back to myself when I feel like I am spiraling. And the more I’ve practiced this, the easier it has gotten to pull this out and use it when I need it. So your sentence is designed to slow you down, bring you back to the present, and offer support when things feel out of control for you.

And if you want something even simpler, you can make your non-negotiable one daily question. Really, just one. It’s a micro-reflection. It takes almost no time, but it gives you just enough space to get honest with yourself. So, your question might be, what’s one thing on my mind right now? Or my personal favorite, what do I need today? Or even, what’s one thought I want to let go of? And the point here isn’t to write an entire journal entry. The point is to check in with yourself for 10 seconds so you’re not running on autopilot. Because when you ask that one question and actually answer it, you create awareness. And that awareness shapes your next choice. It pulls you out of the frantic swirl of your day and it brings you back to yourself. So, it’s simple, yes, but simple does not mean ineffective. So this tiny pause and this one question can help you make more intentional decisions about how you eat, how you move, and how you show up. And it takes 10 seconds.

So, your non-negotiable for thinking can be a short pause when you check in and name what you’re thinking. Or, you can practice saying a daily sentence to yourself that you can also call on when you’re struggling. And last, you can commit to one daily question. Any one of these will raise your awareness, and that is essential if you’re engaging with any type of mindset work or habit change. And remember, these are not meant to be complicated. Each one is a small but impactful mental habit that helps steady your thinking and supports the version of you that you’re working towards. Choose one and I think you’ll notice a difference. Okay?

So, now that you’ve got plenty of ideas for your three non-negotiables for how you eat, how you move, and how you think, let’s talk about the piece that ties this all together. Because the habits themselves matter, but what they represent matters even more. And that piece is self-trust. So, that is the quiet but powerful confidence that comes from showing up for yourself in small, consistent ways. It’s knowing that you can count on yourself. And that doesn’t happen from one big dramatic January overhaul. It comes from the tiny, almost boring habits that you repeat day after day.

Every time you follow through on your non-negotiable, even when you don’t feel like it, even when it’s not perfect, and even when it’s the smallest version, you’re reinforcing an identity. You’re teaching your brain, this is who I am. I take care of myself. I follow through. And that identity shift is what actually carries you through the year. It’s not just the salads or the trail runs, okay? It’s who you become by doing it. And this is why the tiny habits, the small non-negotiables we talked about, end up creating big results. Every time you honor them, you collect evidence that you’re someone who follows through.

And that evidence adds up. It changes how you see yourself. You start making decisions from the version of you who shows up, not the version of you who quits. That’s where self-respect grows and where consistency comes from. And this is why overachievers struggle with follow-through because we want the big change. We want the flashy, dramatic plan. We want to wake up tomorrow as a new, improved version of ourselves. But that version never lasts. The version of you that does last is the one who shows up in small ways and proves to herself, I can do this.

So, the identity I want you to practice this year is simple. I am a woman who does what she says she’ll do. Not perfectly, not rigidly, not with pressure or punishment, but with strength and kindness. And with a deep belief, like in your bones, that your commitments to yourself matter. And this identity becomes the engine that drives everything else. So, do you see? Your non-negotiables give you structure. Your actions give you evidence. And your identity, the one that you’re building through these small habits, gives you the staying power. All right?

So, with your three non-negotiables chosen, let me give you a really simple way to actually follow through on them because while I want you to have these ideas ready to go, the execution is where most people fall off. So here’s the good news. Following through doesn’t require a big, complicated system. You don’t need planners or perfect routines on January 1. What you do need is a simple structure you can come back to, especially on the days when life gets crazy and your motivation tanks. So, I want to talk you through a follow-through system that is realistic, doable, and supportive. So you can come back to this whenever you need it.

All right. The first thing I want you to do is make your non-negotiable crystal clear. Not vague and not fuzzy. Not, I will move more, or I will eat better. No, I mean clear, I mean specific, okay? I will eat protein at two meals a day. I will move for five minutes at minimum every day. I will ask myself one daily question to check in with myself every day. Be specific. When your habit is specific, it is so much easier to honor because there’s no wiggle room, there’s no guessing, there’s no negotiating. It’s just decided and it’s specific. Okay?

So the next thing you can do to make your follow-through inevitable is to define your floor. And that is the smallest version of your habit you can still show up for, even on your busiest, worst day. So you can think of this as your bare minimum. So for example, if your non-negotiable is strength training twice a week, your floor might be a 10-minute full body routine. If your non-negotiable is planning your food, the floor might be deciding what you’re going to have for breakfast this week. That’s it.

And the idea here is that the floor is super easy and almost feels insignificant. But it’s not because it’s what keeps you consistent when your ideal plan falls apart. And then the third piece to ensuring your follow-through is to expect imperfection. Okay? Expect it. And I know that may sound a little funky to say, but I want to be real. I don’t want to sugarcoat, and I want you to be prepared for when the inevitable curveballs happen. You are not going to hit your non-negotiable every day. That’s not the point. The point is that you’re showing up more often than not and not letting any one day off turn into a full-on spiral.

And this is where so many women get stuck. They miss a workout one day or eat pizza instead of a salad one day and then use that as evidence that they’re off track and use that as a reason to stay off track when really, they just had a human moment and could get back to it ASAP. So, the goal is not to get a 100% here. The goal is to figure out how to get right back to it when you mess up because we all do.

And the last part of this system is to check in with yourself, like once a week. And I’m not talking an hour or all Sunday afternoon. I’m talking two minutes here. This is where you just ask yourself, how did it go this week? What habits were easy? Where am I struggling? Where do I need to adjust? That’s it. It’s just a tiny, very small, short bit of reflection. It keeps you aware and it keeps you honest. It brings your attention back to what matters, what goals you’ve set, and it helps you catch patterns before they turn into full-on roadblocks.

So, this really does not have to be complicated. It just needs to be consistent. Small habits, clear floors or minimums, anticipated imperfection, and small, quick check-ins. That is the follow-through system that will carry you through an entire year. Okay, so now while we’re talking about follow-through, I also want to call out a few mindset traps that are going to show up as you do this work because they always do. And when these traps do show up, you don’t make them mean something has gone wrong. You just recognize them for what they are. They’re part of the process.

So, the first trap is all-or-nothing thinking. So this is the voice that says, well, I didn’t get my five minutes of movement in today, so the whole week is shot. No. So one day off is not a problem. Missing on Tuesday does not mean you hang it up and take the rest of the week off. The problem happens when you turn one miss into a reason to keep missing. And when you really think about that, it makes no sense, right? I missed today, so I’m going to keep missing because I missed once. But when you really think about it, that doesn’t make any sense. So instead of spiraling with that line of thinking, I want you to be ready for it and I want you to get back to your floor as soon as possible. Okay?

The second trap people often run into is this feeling of it’s not big enough. And I get it. You are going to have moments when your habits feel too small to matter. You’re going to wonder if five or 10 minutes of movement is even worth it or if eating protein at two meals is really going to make a difference. And the answer to all of that is yes. It matters not just because of the exercise or the food, but more importantly, because of the kept promise.

And this is where you have to remind yourself that small is sustainable, small is repeatable, small is accessible, and small is what creates change. So the impatience you feel that it’s not big enough or bold enough or extreme enough, that is normal. But it’s not a reason to make your habit bigger, it’s a reason to keep going. Okay?

And another trap you’ll likely encounter is when the novelty of your habits wear off. So, right now it’s January and the newness and excitement of the new year and a fresh start will eventually fade. Your life will get busy again if it hasn’t already and the habits that felt easy during week one will eventually feel boring. And when that happens, nothing has gone wrong. This is just the turning point in habit change where consistency becomes a choice. Because change is not something you ride on motivation. And this is exactly where you use your thinking to back yourself up when you start to negotiate and talk yourself out of the habits you were initially so excited to build. And honestly, this is the part where the growth happens, in the boring middle.

So, when these traps show up, the all-or-nothing thinking, the impatience that this isn’t big enough, the novelty wearing off, notice them, expect them, and go back to your non-negotiables. That’s why we made them so small in the first place, so they’re easy to return to even on your hardest days. And nothing has gone wrong when these roadblocks appear. They’re part of the process. And what matters is that you keep coming back. That’s what builds the change, not perfection, but the return. All right?

Before we wrap up, I want you to picture yourself one year from now, at the start of 2027. Not some fantasy version of you, but the real you who spent the last year practicing small, doable habits. So, imagine how she feels in her body. Imagine how she talks to herself. And imagine the confidence she has from knowing that she follows through. So, that version of you is not built from a big January overhaul. Instead, she is built from three simple commitments you practiced all year long: how you eat, how you move, and how you think. That’s what these non-negotiables are creating. Not a different person, just a more consistent, intentional one, someone who can count on herself. That is the work you’re doing this year. One habit at a time, one day at a time.

And if you want help with this, let’s go. When you coach with me, we’ll choose your non-negotiables and you’ll practice actually following through on the habits that matter. Check out my website, send me a message at www.CarrieHollandMD.com/contact and let’s talk about how coaching will change your habits and change your life. All right? Happy New Year to you. Thank you again for hanging out with me, and I’ll catch you again next week.

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Thank you for listening to the Strong Is a Mindset podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build both a strong mind and a strong body by eating, moving, and most importantly, thinking, check out CarrieHollandMD.com.