It’s the first day of 2020! For many, the start of a new year (and decade!) is a symbol of a fresh start. While little has actually changed from December 31 to January 1, some need that feeling of “new” to motivate them, much like how Monday always feels “new” enough to start a workout or a diet.
Personally, I’ve always been a firm believer that now is the perfect time to start something. Now could be 5 p.m. on a Tuesday or 3 a.m. on a Saturday. The best time to make any change in your life is now. If you are always waiting for the “new” feeling of a year or a week, you may never accomplish whatever it is your heart is set on.
However, now is correlating with a new year (which, as I’m writing this, happens to be nearly 10 a.m. on a Wednesday). What a perfect time to start new!
I do happen to like to set yearly goals, though. I’m especially competitive (even with myself) and always like to be better than I was before.
Now that the year is over, I have an ending total of 1,652.5 miles walked/hiked/ran for 2019. That’s quite a bit! But I want more. Now that I see the miles written down, I’d love to do the math and see if I could hit 2,000 in 2020.
While I walked a lot of miles, I also read a lot of books in 2019. Though I didn’t keep track like I did the year before, I feel like I was always constantly reading something. I began my year with “The Hobbit” by JRR Tolkien and ended it with “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood. I’m on track to finish my first book of 2020 either today or tomorrow, which is called “A Walk For Sunshine” by Jeff Alt – it’s a book about one man’s journey of walking the Appalachian Trail (something I’d love to do one day). My book goal in 2020 is to do like I did the year before and read a book a week – 52 books in 52 weeks. While it might not sound like a lot, with work and school, 52 good sized books will keep my mind extra busy.
I’d like to tell you that in 2020 I’m going to actively eat better and diet, but I know I won’t (though I’m hoping to have a few less glasses of wine this year). I like pizza, and while I might try to add more mushrooms and less cheese, I’m still going to eat pizza. I would, however, like to break the habit of overeating.
The above two goals are the ways in which I plan to keep physically and mentally healthy. Walk more, read more. No matter what the day, the year, or the decade, though, these are constantly my goals; these were my goals at 1:45 p.m. last Monday, same as there are today. When you get down to it, my goal is to always be better – better than I was last year, better than I was yesterday, and even better than I was a moment ago.
In 2020, we are all going to mess up, at some point, on our goals. According to research, around 60 percent of people make a New Year’s Resolution but only 8 percent of people are successful in keeping them. The issue is that when we fail, a lot of us don’t get back up and keep going. It’s okay to fail, but a failure doesn’t have to result in a loss. Failure is how we learn and do better.
You messed up on your diet? Start again now. You didn’t get to the gym? Start again now. You messed up your budget by spending too much? Start again now. Don’t wait for Monday or 2021 to have the false security of a “new” start. Start working on your dreams now. Even if you fall down a few times, now is always the best time to start again.
Happy 2020 everyone!