We are just about a week into January… and the blog posts about 2014 resolutions are starting to wane, which means the resolution we chose is not at the forefront of our minds any longer. Stephen Covey said it takes 21 days to form a habit, and since it isn’t January 21 yet, I am concerned many of us have not put our New Years Resolution into play.

Here, we wrote about picking a New Years Resolution, actually starting to do it, and how to raise the odds of staying loyal to our resolution. So, why, by mid-January, have we not kept with our goal (dare I say some of us have yet to even start it)?

I read a 2010 article in Self titled, “10 Ways to Lose Weight Like a Guy.” I was never interested in trying to lose weight (that’s a whole different story), but a piece of this article caught my attention. They quote Tracie Rogers, a Ph.D., who says,

“Most men throw themselves into an exercise program without much planning; most women ask a lot of questions and over-think things, which can create excuses and lead you to put off starting.”

I read this and thought YES! That’s me! I over-think every idea and goal I have, then never actually get started because “It isn’t a Monday,” “I haven’t printed out the calendar to track it yet,” “I’m not feeling great,” this list goes on and on and on and on. And not one of those excuses (because that really is all they are) actually prevents me from taking a step towards my goal. And everything starts with just one, little baby step.

So, I ask you, what did you decide to do this year? Was it a word, a behavior, an accomplishment? Forget about the big picture, what, in this moment as you finish reading this blog- what is something you can do that is connected to that resolution?

One thing I said I wanted to start was to take three deep, slow breaths every time I sit down at my desk (something I decided after reading this HBR Article). Just yesterday, around 4:00, I sat back down at my desk and thought- “OH! My 3 breath thing!” and then, just as quickly, my mind said, “Well, I haven’t done it yet today… I will just start first thing tomorrow morning.” I started to send an email, caught myself, and forced myself to take three deep breaths right then and there. Because why do I need to wait till the morning to start something? 4:00pm is just as good of a time as 8:00am.

So, to reemphasize my message from my last blog, don’t wait till tomorrow, take that baby step today and celebrate yourself for making progress!