Berk and I spent New Year’s Eve at the beach until it got dark and then headed home for football, which he watched more of than I did because I was in bed at 8:45 pm.

Perrrrrrrrfect!

On New Year’s Day, we went to a friend’s home for brunch. Here in Florida, there are a bunch of snowbirds like us so the guests at the brunch were from all over the US. Well… mostly the cold parts of the US… primarily the Northeast.

We drew a color to know what table to sit at and I made some new friends at my “blue” table.

The get-to-know-you conversation bent to places we’ve enjoyed traveling to and one woman said Germany and told us why she loved it there.

We talked about how lovely Germany is at Christmas (their Christmas markets are incredible), the sailing, the hiking, the mountains, and the historic sites.

I mentioned that I worked in Berlin for a while and how I found the people to be disciplined and structured in a way that I admired (and was also occasionally frustrated by when we needed to get work done and they were at the time to stop work for the day).

When my American coworkers and I would walk around there, if we approached a crosswalk and no cars were coming the Germans would NEVER just cross anyway.

There could be no car for miles but if that crosswalk didn’t have a green light, no one was going anywhere.

A woman at my blue table mentioned that she experienced the same thing in Japan and asked a local about it who said, “You never know when a child might be watching you.”

In this new year period of talking about motivation and changing our habits, the Germany/Japan conversation made me reflect on what motivates us to behave in certain ways.

The idea of being a role model for someone else is a lovely motivator, I think.

In fact, it’s a motivator for me because due to this job I have in women’s health and wellness, I know people are watching.

“Order the sandwich with fries or the salad?”

“Relax on the couch or go exercise?”

“Sleep later or get up and meditate?”

The saying – you are who you hang out with – has truth. Who you’re watching has impact on what you’ll choose.

There are hundreds of microdecisions we all make every single day that influence who we’ll be in the future.

While it’s motivating to think that someone may observe you and take a cue to help with their own choices…

Do you know who’s always watching what you do?

YOU.

Crossing the street, prioritizing the vegetables, getting up early, doing the workouts, following through on your commitments to yourself.

The ultimate role model for you is you.