A New Year’s Resolution doesn’t need to start on New Year’s
Day. In fact, you can start a new year
anytime you’d like. There’s even a few
perks of starting off your commitment to change during the “off season”. A big plus is that you won’t be part of the
resolutioner rush at the gym. You also
won’t have as many doubters that think you’re just doing it for the month of
January, when you start during a random month people tend to take it more
seriously for some reason.
Last year for my birthday I made a book full of promises to
myself. I literally found a tiny
notebook and on each page wrote something that I wanted to accomplish or
experience. My list ranged from learning
a new language to getting a driver’s license.
Yes, I’m 26 and I’ve never had a driver’s license. The first on that list though was to do a 5k
race and follow it with at least one race each month. As each month passed I tore out that page
from the book and wrote a new. My 5k
page went to 5 mile, followed by obstacle race to eventually half marathon and
triathlon. Now my race goals are a full
marathon and an Olympic distance triathlon.
I still have a ways to go before I’m ready for either of those, but
writing it down and keeping them on the horizon ensures that I continue to work
towards those goals.
Writing down your goals is important in all aspects of your
life really. Some of the things I listed
were silly like have dinner at Medieval Times or reorganize my room, but having
them on paper helped me keep track of them and gave me great pleasure when I
was finally able to cross them off. (By
the way I still haven’t had that dinner at Medieval Times so if you’re
interested let me know!) A big goal that I’ve had for some time now is to go
back to school. At 17, when I was fresh
out of high school, I moved away from everything I knew and started a new
journey. At the time I thought I had
everything figured out and that I knew exactly what I was doing with my
life. I was wrong. It was truly humbling when I finally had that
moment of realization that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where I
was going. Rather than waste time and
money by continuing on a path that no longer inspired me, I dropped out of
school right before finishing my last year in college. It’s a decision that I often regret, but now
I’ve finally come to peace with. I
realized that I needed to spend some time away to truly grasp what I wanted to
do and to appreciate the opportunity to even be in college.
As of this week I am officially a college student once
again. It took a lot for me to put my
pride aside and take the plunge back into the unknown. I’m on the right track this time around and
am more determined than ever to finish.
Most people assume that I graduated and never ask so I just let them
believe what they’d like so I haven’t shared this with very many outside of my
close friends and family. The momentum
of this new chapter in my life was so strong that I decided to take another
chance and stop by the DMV to take my written and vision tests to get my learner’s
permit. I passed with flying colors! Now I just need to get some time behind the
wheel so I can go back and own the road test.
All of this has taught me some important things; it’s never
too late and you should never give up on your dreams. It doesn’t matter how hard it seems, if you
keep pushing eventually they’ll give way.
So make a list, write down all of the things you’d like to do or learn
or experience. Check it every so often
to stay on track and make any changes. I
still have 11 more major league ballparks to visit, continents to touch and
courses to run so as long as I keep writing, I’ll keep dreaming new dreams to
make reality.
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