I hear this a lot.
“I’ll start after…”
“…after I finish this project.”
“…after I make X amount of money.”
“…once the weekend is over.”
“…after my friends’ wedding next month.”
Be honest with me now. Have you ever said this in the past and not followed through?
That is the problem right there.
Here’s the thing. You only ever have today and you will ALWAYS have a reason to delay until tomorrow.
I’m serious. Once you reach whatever arbitrary goal you set, you’ll just make up some new excuses, move the goalposts and delay the start further.
This is how it works. If something is important enough for you to do next week then it’s important enough to make the time to start it now.
It doesn’t need to be perfect and you don’t need to do EVERYTHING right now, but you need to start. If you can’t start straight away then do yourself a favour and be direct with yourself.
Concede that it’s simply not high enough on your list of priorities at this point in time. This might hurt your pride but it will reduce so much undue stress. It won’t help you achieve those goals but they aren’t important to you at this moment… right?
Health is a great example.
It is even more important that you start now.
Health is unique in that if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backwards. As you get older bad habits ingrain themselves further and the odds start to stack up against you.
It’s not like learning a language or starting to paint again. That can wait. Health can’t.
I appreciate that this can seem overwhelming.
Nutrition, sleep, stress, exercise, steps, tracking, keto, CrossFit.
It’s literally endless.
And the fact that you don’t have time to cook your own food or train 5 times this week is not a good enough reason to delay. Realise that this is just fear and procrastination.
You use perfectionism as an excuse to never start. But starting is the hardest part and it’s going to be messy. And that’s OK.
- Go for a 5-minute walk after you finish reading this.
- Eat some more vegetables with your dinner tonight.
Now, I’m not going to bullshit you and pretend that a 5-minute walk or a small salad is going to make any difference in your life BUT the symbolism is huge. It’s a start and it becomes the grain of sand that creates the pearl.
Once you start making small changes, you’ll start to feel better because you’re doing SOMETHING if nothing else. Then the magic happens.
5 minutes becomes 10 minutes. You start to enjoy fueling your body with nutritious food.
You start to enjoy it and you begin to gather momentum. You exercise regularly and this helps you sleep better. Because you’re sleeping better, you find it much easier to make healthier choices.
Before you know it, exercise becomes an integral part of your life and you ARE training 5 times a week. You don’t know how you didn’t manage to fit this in before.
You are happier, more energised, taking fewer pills, drinking less coffee. Your relationships have improved. Your business has improved. Your life has improved.
This could be your reality.
It all comes down to the simple question:
“What is important to you?”
If it is living a long healthy happy life and being around for your family and realising your dreams then you just need to start.