TikTok creator Carly Berges designed the winter arc trend. In her video with 4.8 million views, she details how you can create your own winter arc. The end of the year is when people typically become more lenient with their routines and let their guard down. The winter arc motto, “all gas no brakes,” is a reminder that just because the start of fall is here doesn’t mean that you need to wait for three more months to change your life.
When the days become darker and the weather becomes colder, it’s tempting to want to throw in the towel and go into a period of hibernation. Resist the urge to give up on your goals and make a conscious effort to finish the year strong.
New Year, New Me-
The new year, new me resolutions often begin with good intentions, but usually end with disappointment. Building good habits can be challenging, and the pressure to completely transform your life starting on January 1st can sometimes be too much to sustain. The winter arc challenge gives you a head start and a chance to build up habits and routines before the beginning of a new year. October 1st has been dubbed the new new year, giving you a chance to get ahead in terms of how you want to show up in your daily life.
October 1st to January 1st is usually a time when everyone slows down, indulges in holiday festivities, and lets their healthy routines fall by the wayside. While this period can be a good time to slow down and prioritize rest, you can simultaneously engage in favorable behaviors that will reduce the pressure of New Year’s resolutions.
As the calendar turns over, people often think about how they want to act, and healthy eating and exercise may immediately come to mind. While that can and should be a part of your winter arc, it can apply to other areas of life as well. You may want to focus on your career, self-care, mindfulness, financial habits, or any other aspect you wish to incorporate permanently into your life.
Another Fitness Challenge?-
Unlike 75 Hard or Operation 66, which have more strict guidelines for how to complete the program, the winter arc challenge gives you the freedom to create your own rules and policies. It’s not focused on restrictions and limitations but rather on adding beneficial daily practices that will help you thrive.
That’s what makes this challenge so great: you can customize it to fit your life and schedule. If health & fitness is your main priority, focus on that. If you notice your mental health begins to suffer during the fall and winter months, make your mental well-being a priority. Do you tend to overspend during the holiday season? Establish a solid savings plan and develop a budget. Any area of your life that needs a revamp can be included in your personal winter arc.
Things you might consider adding to your winter arc are:
- Daily journaling
- Reading
- Meditation
- Exercise
- Stretching
- Creative activity
- Career/business plans
- Building friendships/relationships
- Solo dates or travel
- Content creation
- Save money//pay off debt
While it’s ideal to add a bit of everything to your winter arc, you don’t want to overwhelm yourself and, evidently, end up failing and disappointed in yourself. Pick a few areas that you really want to and can realistically attack. Once you get into the habit of a couple of things, it’s easier to piggyback off of those habits. This is called habit stacking. Get out a pen and paper or your notes app, and list your goals for this winter arc in order of priority.
SMART Goals-
To make your goals stick, use the SMART goals method.
SMART stands for
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-Bound
Specific-
If your goal is too vague, it becomes more challenging to determine whether you are or aren’t on the right track. Working out more isn’t very specific. Specify how many times a week and what types of workouts you’re looking to accomplish. It might be to do Pilates three times a week for 12 weeks.
Measurable-
You want to be able to measure your goals so you can know that you’re reaching them in real time. If your goal is to pay off debt, create a budget and note how much you can put towards your debt each week. Create a chart or use your notes app to visually track your progress toward your goal, showing how much closer you are to achieving it by paying off some of your debt each week or every other week.
Achievable-
Set yourself up for success by making your goals realistic and achievable. If you’re stretched for time, creating five pieces of content per week might not be attainable if you have a busy schedule. Look objectively at how much you can realistically complete each week so that it won’t be overly complicated.
Relevant-
Consider your long-term goals and how these short-term objectives can contribute to achieving the broader picture. If you’re thinking of solo travelling in the future but are nervous about it, start by taking yourself on solo dates once per week or month in your city or town. Small goals lead to big goals.
Time-Bound-
You want to have a time frame for your goals so that you can work towards something with an end date. In the case of the winter arc challenge, it’s typically October 1st-January 1st, so twelve weeks. If you start the challenge late, don’t sweat it; you can still stick to 12 weeks or shorten it to January 1st.
Keep a winter arc journal where you can write down and celebrate your small wins to stay inspired and continue on the journey of self-improvement. Having a buddy or group to participate in the winter arc challenge with can also help keep you accountable and motivated.
Progress not Perfection-
Since the winter arc challenge takes place around the same time as the holidays, don’t let it stop you from indulging in Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas, or whatever holidays you celebrate. The goal here is progress, not perfection. Enjoy the holidays for what they are without guilt and pick up where you left off the next day. You still want to enjoy your life; otherwise, what are we doing any of this for? While the goal here is to get a head start on self-development, remember also to enjoy the journey.
Winter Arc steps:
Here are the steps for a successful winter arc
- Brainstorm goals – Think of 3-5 areas of your life that you need to focus on improving. Choose more or less based on how much you can realistically commit to including in your winter arc.
- Set SMART goals- Write out your goals and then make them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, & Time-Bound)
- Create a daily schedule outlining when and how you can incorporate your goals. Do you work full-time and need to fit your workouts into early mornings or late evenings? Will you commit to reading 10 pages of a book before bed instead of doomscrolling?
- Find a winter arc buddy or group to help keep you accountable. If you don’t have someone, keep a journal or a way to check off that you completed your daily winter arc tasks. Don’t break the chain.
- Lock in. Remember, all you need to do is improve by 1% every day. While at first progress might seem slow, when you look back a few months from now, you’ll have come so far.
Final Thoughts-
The winter arc TikTok challenge can help you get a head start on your goals and dreams. Just because we tend to go inward during the fall and winter months doesn’t mean you can’t use the end of the year wisely, so come January 1st, you’ve already built enough good habits and routines that any New Year’s resolution is already a solid work in progress.
Set a few goals for yourself, whether they are related to health and fitness, mental health, finances, or career development. Be realistic about your schedule and the amount you can commit to. Use the SMART goals method to ensure you can follow through on them. Remember that it’s still okay to indulge a little during the holidays and to enjoy the process of improvement and not just the final results.
Consider finding an accountability partner or group, or create a chart to track your progress. Finally, lock in and aim to improve by 1% every day. Happy winter arc season! Hopefully, this trend can help you get closer to the life of your dreams. Please comment below and let me know what changes you’re looking to implement in your life.
Leave a Reply