January 3rd.
The day nobody expects you to start a new goal.
Except why not?
Why should January 1st get all the attention? Why is January 1st such a ‘make it or break it’ day for starting new goals?
January 1st, the bright and shiny first day of the year that’s filled with hope and promise, bursting with 365 days’ worth of potential, is really no different from any other day of the year except for one thing:
We place more pressure on that day and on ourselves during the days to follow to keep our new year goals perfect than we do any other day of the year.
Which makes it even more impossible for us to succeed. We will fail at some point and accepting that fact and being ready to rebound after our moment of failure is what will make us successful.
It’s what we do the day after our day of failure that is most important. It’s so important author Jon Acuff dedicated the first chapter of his book Finish to ‘The Day After Perfect.’ He says “developing tolerance for imperfection is the key factor in turning chronic starters into consistent finishers.”
Realize the next statement is coming from the perfectionist of perfectionists, the master of procrastinating perfectionism, one who has taken years to learn and accept this lesson…doing something imperfectly is better than doing nothing at all.
I repeat, doing something imperfectly is better than doing nothing at all.
Example? I should’ve had this post ready for January 1st, but I didn’t. Does that mean I should have waited until January 1, 2022 to post this, robbing you of this encouragement for another whole year of working on your habits or goals?
Doing something imperfectly is better than doing nothing at all.
Reading your bible or doing your quiet time imperfectly is better than doing nothing at all.
Eating more vegetables imperfectly is better than eating no vegetables at all.
Exercising imperfectly is better than….ok, exercising imperfectly could lead to injury in the literal sense, so know I’m speaking figuratively here.
You can start a new goal ANY day of the year. Don’t wait until January 1st rolls around again and lose hundreds of days of progress.
Why do we give up on 363 days of possibility because of only TWO days?
Every day can be a “January 1st” if you want it to be – every day has potential to be the beginning of you working towards a new goal or skill or change you want to achieve in your life.
You can start TODAY, no matter what the date is. I don’t care if you’re just seeing this on January 31, June 6, or September 29.
You can start TODAY. January 3rd is just as good a day, as is January 4th, 5th, or 6th, for starting on something you’ve been stalling on. Just don’t give up when that first day of imperfect arrives.
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If you would like to read through the Bible chronologically in a “year,” click here to get a free download PDF tracker printable for keeping track of your process. This is undated so you can start it on ANY day of the year….and, you can take as much time as you need. (I’ve known of mom’s to littles using a tool like this and taking 2 years to complete it vs just 1 year. AND THAT’S OK…imperfect is better than nothing!)
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If you have other goals you’d like to track, you can download my free 12-month goal/streak tracker PDF here.