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Achieving Your Resolutions: Lessons From the Ukrainian Bear

By: Aaron Quinn

January 30, 2025

Setting small, achievable goals, keeping things simple, maintaining consistency, and enjoying the process leads to success

By Aaron Quinn

A new year, with its endless possibilities, is now well underway. Many of us made resolutions, and if you are anything like me, most of those resolutions will end up in the graveyard. Regardless of resolutions made, kept, or abandoned, we will change. The person in the mirror on Jan. 1 will not be the same as the person clinking a champagne glass on Dec. 31. Better to choose that change than to just hope for the best. So, what do we do? Over the course of the last year, I have watched my senior firefighter (we will call him the Ukrainian Bear). In doing so, I have been reminded of the power in a resolution and how to succeed in reaching our goals. 

The Ukrainian Bear decided he needed to lose weight and get in better shape in December 2023 – a common resolution for many. The morning of Jan. 1 came, and as the sun rose, the Ukrainian Bear grabbed a jump rope. Why jump rope, you ask? Because he read that jumping rope was a great way to get and stay in shape. That first morning, he lasted 10 minutes. 

Later that day, he asked me, “If I am trying to lose weight, what should I do with my diet?” My reply was short and simple: “Start with your macros.” A quick nod, “OK,” and he was off. That afternoon, he jumped rope for another 10 minutes. He had also read that two rounds per day would accelerate the attainment of his goals. 

Fast-forward: The Ukrainian Bear has lost more than 50 lbs. He now jumps rope for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, three times a week. He has started lifting weights again, which is largely unneeded due to his “born strong Ukrainian blood.” He cleaned up his diet. So the million-dollar question is, “What can we learn from the Ukrainian Bear?” 

Four lessons pop out: Small goal/step, K.I.S.S, Consistency, and Enjoy the Process.

Setting Small Goals

Goals need to be achievable for success. He set very small and easily achievable goals for himself. Ten minutes of jump rope twice a day. Cut 500 calories a day. Repeat. These are achievable goals. That’s how we win. Once the 10 minutes got easy, he set a new goal: 20 minutes and so on, until he jumped rope for an hour. 

Once the weight loss plateaued, he dropped another 500 calories. Repeat. Winning releases dopamine, and dopamine increases our odds of success and creates a positive reinforcement loop. I am reminded of the old fitness adage that greatness is a bunch of small things done well stacked together.

Keeping it Simple

K.I.S.S, or Keep It Simple Stupid, is an often-forgotten lesson in today’s world of ever-increasing complexity. Simple basics aren’t sexy, but simple basics build sexy. When we remove complexity, consistency increases. The jump rope is as simple as it gets. You only need a small area, about 6 x 6. A jump rope packs easily; you can do it almost anywhere, and don’t need a gym or expensive equipment. You don’t need to leave home, which is a plus if you are busy or have young kids. 

As for diet, the Ukrainian Bear downloaded a free calorie tracker. By his second or third month, he no longer needed to track every meal. He had developed an innate sense for calories and proportions. The lesson I am reminded of here is, simple wins the day. 

The Importance of Consistency

Consistency is our lever against time. The body adapts to what it needs to, and the more often we do a thing, the greater the body and mind perceive the need for adaptation. In addition to this fact, consistency has a magic effect on the rest of our goals. As we build consistency over time, the new becomes familiar. At first, the new skill requires a lot of mental energy to achieve. Eventually, new skills migrate into muscle memory or second nature. The mental space the new skill once occupied is now free for new challenges. 

Take our friend, the Ukrainian Bear. Once counting macros became easy and the need to enter every meal into the calorie-tracking app was eliminated, he shifted his focus to cleaning up his diet. He eliminated fast food, and reduced dessert to only a few days a week. Then he increased the quality of his food. The lessons here are: Consistency will always add up to more than its parts, and consistency wins over time. 

It’s Just Not About the Destination, It’s About the Journey

The final lesson is the most important: Enjoy the ride. This is the most forgotten lesson of all. I need reminders of this from time to time. Studies have shown that the chase releases as much, if not more, dopamine as the reward. This means the process of reaching your goal is just as important as achieving it. It truly is not just what we do, but how we do that thing. 

The body adapts more completely in response to pleasure and joy than fear. The Ukrainian Bear found joy in jumping rope, learning tricks and skills. He never “forced” himself to do more than he wanted. If he didn’t feel like jumping rope for an hour, he wouldn’t. The lesson here is to enjoy the process, and the goals come easily.

Easy makes the win simple. Simple wins the day. Consistency wins the week, the month, the year. Enjoyment makes the weeks, months, and year easy. Repeat. 

Many thanks to my friend the Ukrainian Bear for his inspiration and kindness. Watching him has reminded me of the joy that fitness is supposed to have.         

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