Accomplishment in the New Year

A great life is nothing more than a series of days well lived strung together like a string of pearls.

— Robin Sharma

I’ve always struggled with new year’s resolutions. And I know I’m not the only one.

A year is a long time. Along with the fact that it can be hard to stick to anything for that long, there is also the issue of thinking “I’ll do it later”. If I have a whole year ahead of me, then surely whatever promise I made to myself will get done eventually, right? There’s lots of time! I don’t have to do it today!

Turns out that mental model doesn’t always work out.

I’m learning more and more that, as the above quote says, a great life, or any sort of achievement, is accomplished day by day. It doesn’t start tomorrow, it starts today. And the next “today”. And the next. And the next. String enough “today’s” together working toward a goal, and eventually it will be achieved.

If you take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves.

— Tibetan saying

If you have a new year’s resolution, or some big goal for the year, what can you do today to take a small step toward that goal? And then, what can you do tomorrow? And the next day? What is a habit, or system, or routine, that you can put into place to take one small step toward your goal, every day? Not starting later, starting right now.

Something to think about. Systems or routines of daily actions are much more valuable than lofty goals that remain nothing but dreams.