The year has come to a close, and this is the time where everyone starts making lists of all the great things that happened in 2014 and another of all the brilliant things they will do in 2015. Most of us enjoy this time as a chance to start over and do things "better" this year.
Some of us will promise to start eating healthier, to go to the gym more, to spend less time at work and more time with our families, to drink less, to volunteer more, etc etc etc. Some of us stick to these resolutions; most of us don't.
It's hard to fulfill all these great ideas all at once. Unfortunately, that is the nature of most of these promises. We want to accomplish things, but quickly. We want to look better, feel better, be better, but we want it now, not in two months. That is the life expectancy of many of these resolutions and vows—two to three months. After that, the gyms clear out and our diets stray and our willpower fades.
But it doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to wait for a specified time and event to persuade you that now is the time for change. It is always the time for change if things are not as you want them to be and you are able to do something about that. Resolutions to do better, for yourself or others, don't have to be made just once a year. Rather, if that is all you think of them, then your perception is very skewed.
You need to have resolve, not be resolved. You have to commit to change, and that commitment cannot wear out as quickly as you do on the Stairmaster after not going to the gym for too many months. Commitment needs to be renewed and strengthened, and not just once a year.
But don't try to do this quickly. Don't rush change. If you try to do too much at once you will drown under the weight of it all and then nothing will be done. It's okay to make resolutions right now, but you have to continue to renew them all year long. Turn those resolutions into commitments, and those commitments into actions and rewards. Get something done this year. Don't wait, do it now. There is no designated time to start, but now. Get going, you have work to do.