Also titled, “obligatory rant about yearly goals”.

I’m all for setting goals. Really, I am.

It’s just that I don’t think that a yearly planning session should be held due to guilt, holiday obesity, and (probably) loads of alcohol.  Yes, I think the beginning of the new year is a great time to re-evaluate existing goals and reflect on where you’d like to go this upcoming year …

But my pessimistic side bears out the truth every year – the vast majority of people unceremoniously dispense of their goals like fruit cake after the holiday spirit was died off. Into the trash it goes, never to be thought of for another 11 months.

If you are one of those people, put on your big boy pants. It’s time to be a rational adult, capable of making and keeping commitments. Forgive yourself, open your mind and lets move on to the major thrust of the article.

(I’m no economist, but my understanding is that the USA’s current financial condition is largely due to banks giving loans to people who were unwilling or unable to keep commitments. )

Here’s the idea -view your goals like a loan and put down a hefty down payment.  What’s one of the worst ways to purchase a piece of real estate? Contrary to the late night TV gurus, the worst way to do it is with  “no money down.”

Let’s say for instance, your goal is to lose 20 lbs. Starting right now,  pay out a 10-20% down payment. The moment you finish writing the goal down on paper – you’re writing down your goals aren’t you? – begin a 48 hour juice fast, run 3 miles, cut off all of your body hair. Whatever it takes, lose 2 pounds.

When you make an extraordinary effort in getting the down payment done, the habit monthly payments will be much easier.  The bigger the initial sacrifice, the better. Sacrifice breeds commitment.

In my mind, if you cannot sacrifice a down payment RIGHT NOW, you cannot complete your goal. What makes you think that if you lack the will power to give it a shot right now that somehow you’ll be able to do it later?

One of the absolute failures of men is that they believe that the future will somehow be fundamentally different. “When I have a bigger house I’ll be happier.” “When the weather is warmer, I’ll exercise outside and lose 10 pounds.” “I’ll accept and love my wife when she stops whining all the time.”

Things don’t change, we change.

The only moment you will ever have is RIGHT NOW. You never experience the future – you only experience in the NOW. (In the future, it will still be right now)

Procrastination isn’t just a troublesome scheduling problem, it’s an active decision to do the wrong thing RIGHT NOW.  When you have a worthy goal and don’t start now, you are making the wrong decision.

Think about that.

If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right now. Don’t put life, happiness and fulfillment on hold. Get started today.

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Obviously, some considerations must be made. If 10% of your goal is impossible to accomplish in 24-48 hours, you can do 5%, or 2% for a longer term goal. Just make sure the sacrifice hurts – it’ll be good for you.

Also, check out the book The Power of Now. It really hits home the whole, “now is the only moment you have” sort of thing. Very interesting read.