It the start of a new year, which for many only means “starting over” and for others nothing changes. This is because those with expectations of a random fresh start set themselves up to be let down.
Think about it: if December 31 is on a Tuesday and January 1 is on a Wednesday, New Year’s Day is just a normal day in the week. It may be the day that changes the year — but physically and mentally, nothing changes that we couldn’t choose to change any other day of the year.
If we kept this mind frame that because it is the first day of something it is automatically more special and a more efficient time to choose to better ourselves, why not make the first day of every month or the first day of every week the day that this betterment will occur. Why not the beginning of every single day?
By putting so much pressure on one day to be the beginning of the change, the minute we start to “fail”, we automatically give up and think “maybe next year”. Why not right now?
If you want to lose weight or eat better, don’t tell yourself that you have to wait until January 1 to begin and that if you mess up a little on January 10, it’s all over until next year. Make every single day a new opportunity for betterment and success is so much more likely.
This is not to say you can’t set goals for the upcoming year that you wish to accomplish by the end, but rather don’t give up if things don’t work out on some imaginary timeline. You are so much more likely to think your year is somehow the worst ever simply because you’re not immediately reaching goals, when you could forget the perfect timeline and let pieces fall into place.
If you enjoy the timeline and it works for you, that’s great–It’s not for everyone and that is okay. Start your goals today (or tomorrow if you just want to enjoy what today brings).
