173. Recapping 75 Hard Days to Start 2026

The beginning of 2026 was rough, and in this episode I'm being completely transparent about it. You'll hear about my first 75 days of the year: a month-long family illness, a car accident that totaled the family vehicle, financial stress, and everything falling apart from both a health and business perspective. If you've ever started the year with big goals only to watch life derail them, this episode is for you. I'll walk you through exactly how I rebuilt my consistency with health and fitness by incrementally adding one habit at a time until everything clicked back into place. And I'll explain why the "long game" mindset is the only one that actually sticks. Key takeaways: • Why setting health goals on a hard timeline sets most people up to fail • How to rebound after life completely derails your routine • The incremental habit-stacking approach that gets and keeps you moving • Why "bulletproofing" your habits is the real goal of any fitness journey ---------- BIRTHDAY SALE — This Week Only (March 16–22): To celebrate my birthday, I'm offering my exclusive client referral discount to everyone: your first month of 1-on-1 online fitness coaching is 100% FREE. This deal has never been offered to the general public before and ends at midnight on March 22nd. Apply » https://chrisgatesfitness.com/coaching-application-form/