Resolve

Every year I go on a hard-core rant during December. It goes something like this:

STOP WAITING UNTIL JANUARY FIRST TO DO SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO!!!!!!

(also, please make this year the year you learn the words to Auld Lang Syne)

Reasons for my rant:
1. January 1st is my birthday and I want people to enjoy it, not "start their diet".
2. People feel like they have a pass the rest of the year if "I'll start on January 1st".
3. The end of the holidays is a terrible time to start something new- for most people, all of December was something new (parties, outings, family, etc.) and January would be a great time to resettle into a routine, not add something new.
4. People make fun of people who Resolve to do things on January first. Entire industries (like the personal trainer/gym membership/workout sign-up deadline) are built on the fact that people will pay for anything in the first two weeks of January. Some fitness centers (I might have worked at one) base their entire year's income on the first 1/2 of January. Did that make sense? They make ALL their money for the year in the first two weeks... you just don't want to be 'that guy'.
5. Once you've missed the Resolution window, it doesn't come around for another year.

My advice:
1. Make January 1st a nice day where you don't hold yourself to any new standards.
2. Pick a different day to start something new, and make that day (all year) your day to reevaluate. (I like Fridays... there are a bunch of them every month).
3. DON'T WAIT. Runner's World has a fantastic article this month about what to do RIGHT NOW to start achieving your goals (hint: most of them start with, "Drop this magazine and...")
4. Pick goals, and mini-goals, and smaller goals. But don't think you're going to live a different life starting a week from Wednesday.

End of rant.