It’s common at the beginning of a new year to hear expressions such as ‘new year, new you’ and ‘fresh new start.’ Fresh starts are exciting. Setting out on a path to a better you. Stronger, thinner, healthier, wealthier…whatever your definition of ‘a better tomorrow’ might be. And I’m not throwing shade on those sentiments. Well, maybe just a little.
Now for the shade. January 19th is known as ‘quitter’s day’ because by then, a lot of people have already given up on their new year’s resolutions. Nineteen days. Breaking that down, it’s really about two weeks of figuring out that their ‘new you’ or ‘better tomorrow’ is going to take more commitment, and more work, than they are willing to give. The other five days? That’s the length of time it takes them to rationalize why they are giving up and to getting their story straight in case anyone asks.
Here’s the thing. Starting is easy. Sticking to the path is hard. The ‘fresh start’ that matters most is getting up each day and making a fresh commitment to stay on the path. One of my favorite sayings, from John Di Lemme, is “When you think about quitting, remember why you started.”
Every day is a fresh start to continuing the journey you are on.