Every year I wait until January to buy a new daily planner.
And every year when I get to the store and I see that the only planners left are the daily devotional and golf planners, I realize what a huge mistake I have made.
(SERIOUSLY, WHY DO I ALWAYS DO THIS???)
There’s something very satisfying about a physical planner (and coffee….always coffee)
In the past few years, though, I have realized the error of my ways, and have begun to plan ahead.
I like using December as a time to reflect over the year and what I have accomplished, and to figure out if any of my unfinished goals should carry over and what new goals I’d like to add for the upcoming year.
I credit that change to running an accountability group.
Before the accountability group, December was a festive blur…a four week vacation full of holiday parties, excessive baking, and going out with friends as if I was never going to see them again.
This happens throughout the year as well. People hit these points where they feel entitled to a break. Spring break. Memorial Day. Summer vacation. Everyone is entitled to a break! We all need a vacation sometime.
When you know you’ve done the work, vacation is that much more satisfying…
But some people constantly reward themselves with breaks saying “well, I DESERVE a break once in a while” without having ever really done the work.
These types of breaks are a form of avoidance. A convenient excuse to avoid the discomfort of work, the fear of action, or the resistance to change.
Even if you have been doing the work, be careful not to let a well-deserved break break your momentum.
I have watched as a 300-day yoga streak (mine) was destroyed after a week-long vacation. Not only did I NOT do yoga on the vacation, but I didn’t return to it when I got home.
I have watched as friends took a break from the accountability group because they were opening a show, only to have them disappear altogether. Did they ever achieve their goals? Are they still alive? I seriously don’t know.
I mean, they’re PROBABLY still alive…maybe…
Momentum is golden wings. Inertia is a lead weight around your neck.
So, as we begin the final month of 2020, the month that tends to be a month-long break from the norm, consider giving yourself a REAL break: one where you take some time to really think about what you accomplished (or didn’t) this year and plan ahead for what you would like to accomplish (personally and professionally) in the coming year.
NOW is the time, my friends.
Now is the time to wrap up unfinished tasks.
Now is the time to set your goals for next year.
Now is the time to buy the planner.
