Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Seize the Day Instead
How small daily wins in 2021 will make you successful
Today marks the last day of the worst year for many people. A year ago, the ringing in of 2020 had so much optimism. A new decade. Millennials coming of age and hitting the peak of their earning power and influence (or at least Corporate Middle Management). The stock market roared forward with no pullback in sight. We could go out to bars, restaurants, and sporting events without a care in the world. What a time to be alive!
Of course, we know how this year unfolds and no sense waxing poetic on the lows, losses, or sorrows. There will be many a Medium post for that. Instead, I want to focus on how 2021 can be the best year of your life. You’ll notice that I didn’t put “why” it will be the best year. The “why” doesn’t invoke internal action or a push. This is where the “how” comes in.
The turning of a new year means ringing in the festivities as the clock strikes midnight while Auld Lang Syne plays in the background. It means a time to reflect and a new hope. I’ve come to realize we hold more near and dear to our heart the years in our life, rather than the days. Days are routine. Hell, even months are routine. There will always be another December or another 1st of the month, but once the clock nears midnight on December 31st, there is no way we will get 2020 or any prior year back. Come tomorrow, 2020 will only exist as a memory for us.
Seize the Day
It is this hopeful fault in our reflection to then create false goals and promises of change in the new year. When I look back at years past, I don’t remember anything except particular days. This is important because change comes with the days, not the year. Habits aren’t formed on January 1st. The successful pursuit of a goal comes from consecutively working day after day to achieve it. If I’m attempting a marathon, I don’t miraculously wake up one day and run it. I train day in and day out for months to reach that goal. The human spirit lives to seize the day. You know, Carpe Diem and all?
If you want 2021 to be the best year yet then capture the value of the day. Once you’ve done that then add the benefit of consistently capturing several days. This is the toughest part of human nature. Change is meant to be hard. The joy of reaching a goal comes from the invested daily pursuit of that goal, not the goal itself. At the end of every year, I write in a journal what I want to accomplish the following year. Usually, I’ll write 5 – 10 goals down and accomplish a few of them.
A List of Goals I had for 2020:
- Become fit and healthier. Lose 25 lbs. and run a 6 min. mile. (No, quite the opposite)
- Become a better partner for my wife. (Yes)
- Stay in touch with friends + family. (No)
- Write more blogs. At least 1 per month. (No)
- Save more money and invest. (Yes)
- Start a YouTube Channel. (Yes, barely)
- Learn to code iPhone Apps. (No)
From the 2020 list above, I accomplished 3 out of the 7 goals. For the goals that I accomplished, I noticed that a pattern emerged. Each of those accomplished goals had intentional daily efforts to get that end result. Efforts that soon became habits.
- I deliberately set up a personal finance system to allow me to save more money and invest. This led to saving/investing about $30,000 more than I normally would.
- I purposefully started strengthening the relationship with my wife. We’ve had fewer fights and less stress this year than any other year in our relationship.
- I intentionally started a YouTube Channel in November with the goal of relaying my career and startup experiences to help people take the next step in their career or business. All of these accomplished goals happened because of daily or weekly pursuits toward them.
The Hardest Part is Continuing
On the other side, the goals I did not achieve were simply because I did not invest time or execute a daily focus toward them. When it came to becoming more fit and healthy, I would go to the gym here and there with no purpose or diet to help in training. In fact, I actually gained weight! Any excuse of external circumstances of this year is just that - an excuse.
The reason why I didn’t accomplish these goals is so simple that it pains me to reflect on. The could haves, should haves, would haves are poisonous regrets of wasted time. As simple as it is to recognize the downfall, it’s still hard to overcome it. It’s hard to change your lifestyle to become more fit and healthy. It’s difficult to learn a new skill and build something. It requires effort to consistently take action. Then again, if it were easy everyone would do it. The joy of pursuit would no longer be there. It’s the dedication to overcome adversity where the human spirit flourishes. The hardest part isn’t starting. The hardest part is continuing.
1% Better
Take one step every day toward your goals in 2021. Anything counts as progress moving forward. Even something as small as a 1% effort.
To borrow from James Clear’s Atomic Habits, “Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.”
These small wins accumulated day after day turn into habits and accomplished goals in the long run - that’s the power of compounding. It is my hope that a year from now, you and I look back and fulfill our goals because of these daily pursuits. There is no better remedy for 2020 than to have 2021 (or the days within) be successful because of this seize the day mentality. Happy New Year and Carpe Diem!
