I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions. If you have decided on December 22nd, or November 30th, or July 10th that changing something about your life or your habits will improve your well-being or quality of life, then why on earth are you waiting until January 1st to start doing it? If you, like so many others, have thought to yourself at some point “X is going to be my New Years Resolution” or… “Starting in 2019, I’m going to start doing Y”, then I urge you to start doing X or Y right this second. I mean it; if you’re reading this and you thought to yourself the other day “Next year I’m going to start working out more” then I want you to stop reading this instant and do some push-ups. If you truly believe that there is something that you can feasibly do to make your life better, then you need to start doing it today. Not tomorrow, not next week, and not January 1st.
There will always be some things about your life that you cannot change; some things that you cannot improve. There will be many more things that you cannot change overnight. But why wait until January 1st 2019 to start changing the things that you can improve? Why not get a head start on your plans, begin changing your life now, and get into the habit of recognizing when you’re procrastinating on your own personal plans.
I’ll admit, I am a procrastinator too. When I was in college, I would wait until the night before something was due to start working on it and then I would drink coffee all night trying to stay up doing it. But when it comes to my well-being and my personal habits, when it comes to things that I genuinely want to change for myself and not for anyone or anything else - it just seems silly to procrastinate on those things.
This is why, just a couple weeks ago, I began carrying my camera with me everywhere I go - because I want to get in the habit of taking more pictures more often. This is why, as soon as I finish writing this, I’m going to hop on the hang board and get a climbing workout in today.
They say it takes 21 days of doing something consistently to turn that thing into a habit: which means that if you start your “New Years Resolution” today, then by January 11th you’ll be changing your life.
