3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Wait Until New Year To Start Working Towards Your Goals

Do you spend time in December reflecting on the past year?

Setting yourself some resolutions for the next year and telling yourself, I will be better?

Me too! Or at least that was me. I used to be a resolution setter, a dedicated January goal ticker but then, like most people, February came along and those boxes were left unticked.

When you say the word resolution what feelings does it bring up? Perhaps feelings of restriction, pressure or limitations? I’ve decided to move away from that word and encourage my clients to do the same.

How do you also feel about using the 1st January as a date to start that new habit, to begin working towards those goals? I get it - the first day of a new year can symbolise a new beginning, but why wait until then? Is a date in the calendar really going to encourage us to commit to that new goal? Or will you be one of the 80% of us who fail to achieve our New Year’s Resolutions?

So here I am going to share with you my top 3 reasons why you shouldn’t wait until New Year to start working towards your goals.

1) It’s an excuse not to start now.

When you write down the goal how do you feel? Excited? Ready to get started? So why wait to start? When motivation is at its highest, this is the best time to start. By waiting until the 1st January, which may still be months away depending on when you are reading this, we may lose motivation, the goal might not even align with our focus anymore. So as they say ‘strike whilst the iron is hot’. Start now.

2) You’ll be 1 step ahead.

Wake up and decide that today is the day to begin. What’s the 1 step that you can take today to move closer to your goal? Keep it simple, make it achievable and make it actionable. Then guess what? You’ll wait up tomorrow and be one step closer. New Year’s resolutions can come with that big expectation, can sometimes feel like a big commitment and often you’ll feel the pressure from others to achieve it. We can remove that pressure by deciding to start now.

If we slip up, that’s ok, we can learn to be ok with the slip ups and decide to get back on track without feeling like we failed. Plus, we’ll still be 1 step ahed of everyone else who is waiting for the 1st January to come along! Start small, but start today.

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.”

— Brad Paisley

3) Set the right tone for the New Year.

Who wants to start the new year feeling rubbish and in desperate need of change? No one right?! But taking steps now to work towards our goals we can start the New Year already feeling focused, vibrant and motivated to continue taking those steps forward.

Whilst everyone else will be on day 1, you’ll feel like you beat the gun and are already half way down that running track. Does that sound better than waking up on the 1st January feeling like you HAVE TO start? Instead it’s just another day for you, you’ll WANT TO continue taking those steps forward. Which one would you rather be a HAVE TO or a WANT TO?

So are you ready to start taking those steps towards your goals today?

Download your Reflect & Refocus workbook now.