Starting Doesn't Require Society's Blessing

  Now that 2012 is here we are bombarded with advertisements for Weight Watchers and gym memberships and other "get in shape, eat better" endorsements. While I don't have a problem with people advertising their business, I do ponder one point in particular. Why do we, the consumer/customer/goal-seeker, wait until the New Year to start something new? For some they like starting fresh with month one. Others may have fallen off their exercise and eating routines during the Holidays so it is a perfect time to turn it around. The advertisers know it and they reel us in. And we are easy prey. Still, do we have to wait until the calendar hits January 1 to start something new? I would intimate that we do not. Starting something has its own unique feel to it. It has its own set of characteristics. If we own it then we start it when it needs to begin. Somehow I think it means more to us when we do it in our own time. I know it does me.

  Listen, I have nothing against people wanting to be fit or eat better. My gym is full of people trying hard. I think those are great goals provided they are specific, measurable and you have someone to hold you to them. When I hear people want to change something or work on an area of their life I get excited. I am fired up for them. Somehow though in the back of our minds there may be some doubt. Do we really think the person will stick with it? Do we think we will stick with it? Well, statistically we don't stick with it. According to my research twenty-five percent of people will bail on their new goals/resolutions within the first week of the year and an additional eleven percent will bolt by the end of January. So, thirty-six percent of people don't make it through the first month! I find that staggering in one sense and not surprising in another. It is staggering because that is an awful lot of people throwing in the towel. It does not surprise me because people jump in and go full boar without understanding that Rome was not built in a day. Your body is no different.

 Starting something should not always require the calendar to be at month one. I have friends and family who have started things in mid-year or late in the year. They have done it quietly and with excellence. I applaud them just as much as I applaud those who start something in the beginning of the year. The point is we can start something anytime. Society can tell us when, how, or where. However, we can decide not to pay attention. Make that a goal! I think we start new things in January because we are conditioned to do so. Perhaps we have a fixation on the number one as if counting from two or seven taints the accomplishment. It doesn't and it won't. Society says this is the time to get control of your finances or get in shape or eat better or whatever. Not really, folks. What if we just lived our lives with consistency. Yeah, it is a tough world out there. So many things are vying for our time, energy and money. None of us will do everything well. I get it. We will always have areas to work on. Trust me I know.

 My big point in all of this is don't set your goals based on the fact that everyone else is setting them. If you normally set them at the beginning of the year then great. Keep doing it. Maybe you run on the July to June schedule like some companies do. Great! Set your goals that way. Maybe April will come and you decide you want to revamp your financial situation. Perfect. There is not a better time to begin then the one you own and choose. A word of caution however. We can say we will start something new tomorrow and then three months later we are still saying it. That is not good and you will never reach the uniqueness and destiny the Creator has for you with that approach. Pick a date and a subject and you are off and running. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you, not with people who will tell you what you want to hear. It won't end well if people are not put in place to cover all of the bases. Plot your course, know where you are, know where are you going and then ease yourself into it. Don't throw yourself into it. You will be better off. You will be a positive statistic.

 The bottom line is I want to see people make changes in their life. I want to see the drug addict kick the habit. I want the person who wants to lose 20 pounds to drop the weight (and keep it off). I rejoice with the person who decides they want to take control of their finances instead of the other way around. I am for you, whoever you are. I am for you whatever your goal is. Simply I am offering a different approach to how you go after the change you so desperately want. You don't need a one on the calendar to give you the necessary motivation. Change can happen any day, anytime and anywhere. Your goals are attainable no matter when you start. Goals are hard enough. Pressure can be good and bad. Some of us are good under pressure and some are not. Take your time and be purposeful in what you do. Make your minutes and hours count. Start at your own beginning. Remember, it's about the dash!