In a couple months I’ll have been blogging for five years. That means I’ve blogged about resolutions at least five times. I’ve gone through phases – writing about my goals, writing about my failures, declaring an end to the practice of making resolutions in the first place and, most recently, sharing a few resolutions (like eating more chocolate) that I believe we can all manage to keep this year.

But as I’ve been reflecting on the nature of resolutions and the fact that most of us don’t keep ours (and yet continue to make them every year in a baffling display of optimism), something occurred to me. I realized that the majority of changes I’ve made in my life have nothing to do with resolutions or a date on the calendar.

See, I set goals for myself all. the. time. Eat more vegetables. Exercise more. Organize my pantry. Plan meals before going to the grocery store. Get up early. Floss my teeth. Watch less TV (as if!). And more often than not, I decide to start pursuing these goals next week, next month, next year.

So often when I set goals for myself, make resolutions to change or improve, it’s all about the next. I get wrapped up in the planning and the dreaming and the I’m-gonna-do-it-this-time-no-really-I-am, and I forget to actually start.

I say, “I’ll start on Monday,” but somehow, Monday never comes.

Have you ever done that?
Have you ever put off your dreams, your goals, your resolutions for the next, for Monday?
Have you ever had a case of the Mondays?

The interesting thing about this is that I have, certainly, made changes to my life and met goals I set for myself. Many times I’ve resolved to change something – and I have!

In the last couple of years, I’ve stopped speeding (for the most part), started taking vitamins every day (or most every day), remembered to take my canvas bags to the grocery store (usually), made a point to invite friends over for dinner once a month, balanced my checkbook twice a month, read a lot more of the Bible than I did the year before and finished a few of the non-fiction books that have been collecting dust on the shelf for months.

You wanna guess how many of those things happened on a Monday or January 1? {None.}

Have you broken or met your New Year’s resolutions for this year?
Have you been waiting for next week, next month or next year?
Or are you moving forward, standing back up when you fall, reaching for those goals?
Have you set goals and made plans, but forgotten to start doing?
What’s stopping you from starting now instead of next Monday?

Do you keep your New Year’s or Monday resolutions?
Or do you meet more goals that you set through the year or the week?

By Mary Carver, Giving Up on Perfect

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