The New Year is here! Were you one of the millions of people who set some new goal or resolution to work on in 2018? If so, to help you reach it, I think you should watch some football. I’m serious! Let me explain: You see, the Packers can teach us about a lot more than just football, and although our beloved team in green and gold didn’t make it to the playoffs like most of us had hoped, there is still something we can take away from them when it comes to pursuing our own goals.

When you think about the goal of an NFL game, it’s pretty straightforward: to win. Your goal is the same. You want to “win” in an area of your life, which is why you set some new goals for yourself Dec. 31. In order to walk away with a win on your personal goals, you need a strategy, just like NFL teams need a strategy to win the game. When we start talking strategy, we could go in a million different directions: discuss offense, defense, special teams, etc. However, we’re going to keep it simple and focus on one main thing – or one group of people, rather. On the football field, we all seem to forget about those guys who stand on the sideline holding the chains. You know who I’m talking about, right? They run out on the field with those two posts attached to chains when it’s questionable whether or not the team on offense has made a first down in order to keep possession of the ball. Entire games can be won or lost based off of a couple of inches!

You see, in a nutshell, the entire strategy the Packers use to put some points on the board is to move those chains. For example, could Aaron Rodgers throw a Hail Mary every single play? Sure, he could – and it might be an interesting game to watch – but it’s probably not the best strategy if he wants to take his team to victory. His best bet is probably to move those chains just a little bit with each play, until he undoubtedly ends up in the end zone for a touchdown. Rinse and repeat. Likewise, if Rodgers drops back, misses the linebackers coming at him from the sides, and gets sacked, does he get his guys back in the huddle and say “I don’t know guys, I was going for a touchdown there and it didn’t work. Let’s quit”? I sure hope that’s not what he’s saying. Most likely, he gets in that huddle, tries to figure out what went wrong, re-strategizes, gets back out on the line, and tries to get those chains moving until they score.

Your strategy this year in pursuit of your resolutions should be the same as A-Rod and the green and gold. Every day, every week, and every month, find small things that you can do to move your own chains forward, inch by inch if need be. Don’t expect to throw a Hail Mary pass every time and hope for it to be a success. Also, be prepared to get sacked and set back a few yards, because most likely that’s going to happen sometimes. If you anticipate such tackles, you can plan ahead for them and be ready to adjust when necessary. It’s the beginning of the year, and we have all of 2018 ahead of us to score and win. Are you ready to make this your best year yet? I hope so. The ball is in your hands: Ready, set, hike!

Kyle Frank is a personal trainer, nutrition consultant, weight loss and motivation coach, and owner of The Diet Doc Eau Claire.