I was originally going to publish this post yesterday, but I held off until today because… well… you’ll see why in a second.
So I’m pretty sure we’re all familiar with that “fresh start” feeling that accompanies the beginning of every day, week, month, or year. We make New Years’ resolutions, set monthly goals, or simply wake up in the morning with the mentality that today things will be different… today we’ll eat better, rock our workouts, be more positive, get rid of all our vices, and generally become the perfect version of ourselves.
Admit it. I know I can’t be the only one who’s put off making a change until “tomorrow” because of the belief that a good night’s sleep will wipe my slate clean and make it easier to work on the areas of my life that need improvement. Guilty. But while it’s a comforting thought, it’s also a convenient excuse, because, really, every moment is a fresh start… every.single.one.
You don’t need a new day, week, month, or year to make a change — all you need is a desire to act; and if you didn’t want it bad enough yesterday, chances are you’re probably not going to want it bad enough today. That’s the kicker, isn’t it? Finding the motivation to move from contemplation to action. We spend a lot of time thinking about doing something, but when it come to actually acting on those thoughts?
Ehhh… tomorrow.
Why? Why do we waste so much time in a state of inaction, living a life that’s far less than what we want and deserve? What are we waiting for? An invitation? An epiphany? A lightning bolt to strike us from the sky? The right moment? Here’s the thing… invitations are non-existent, epiphanies are rare, lightning bolts are lethal, and the right moment is right now.
This moment right here? A moment to start fresh. And now? Another one. The truth is that every passing minute is a chance to turn it all around, a chance to take that first step that’ll bring us closer to achieving one of our goals. It doesn’t have to be some huge, epic step, but it has to be a step nonetheless — a simple action that’ll take us out of a state of inertia and set things into motion.
Starting out is never easy, especially if the journey ahead is a long one. Looking at how far we have to go can be overwhelming and contribute to our unwillingness to act, which is why it’s important to start small and set mini goals along the way — not only are they quicker and easier to achieve, but reaching them is motivating in itself — it shows us that we are getting somewhere and reinforces the idea that we can achieve the things we set our minds to. Everything depends on taking that first step, though…
Inaction and putting things off until “tomorrow” were two things that I really struggled with when I was recovering from my eating disorder. Fear played a big part in that, but so did resignation — I simply accepted a life that was far less than the one I deserved and didn’t bother doing anything to make it better. Now, when I look back at how much time I wasted in that miserable state of existence, I just want to kick myself. The only reason I don’t is because I learned some pretty valuable lessons along the way… But I could have saved myself, as well as those around me, a lot of grief had I just done something sooner…
One simple step. Right now. It doesn’t matter if the action itself is “right” or not, what matters is that it gets you acting — it takes you out of the passive stage of contemplation and gives you the momentum to do more. Don’t put off ’till tomorrow what you deserve to have today. One thing. Right now. Go.
Are you guilty of putting things off until “tomorrow”?
What’s one thing in your life that you want to work on or achieve? What’s holding you back?
Totally needed this. I just wrote my post for tomorrow kind of about the same thing, how I need to just DO what I want instead of hope for it and hope there is a good time for it. It’s so hard, sometimes, though.
What’s holding me back is just not wanting to accept that my life is different now and I have no other choice.
Oh girl, I definitely feel you on that one — There are definitely times where I have to force myself to do something, and even though I know I always feel better when I do it, the first step can be a real struggle.
Amanda, so well written and expressed. There are many things I have put off in my own list of goals simply to put my family first. I am only recently coming to a point where I am starting to re-evaluate what I want to accomplish and stop putting it off. Thank you so much for this post and this reminder.
Amanda, you have such an incredible gift with words. This post is absolutely amazing and I agree with you 100%! Waiting for that perfect “fresh start” moment was what held me back with my life with restriction and then with my journey in intuitive eating. I was always caught up in the “I have to be the perfect version of myself” thing that I missed out on a lot of opportunities. The concept of having any moment be the right moment never even dawned on me until I was working with Jamie and she stressed how important changing my perspective was. If I had a binge, I didn’t ruin the day. I didn’t have to wait until the NEXT day to try again. I could turn things around at any time! It makes such a difference when you don’t hold yourself to some arbitrary timeline you have set out in your head!
What a thoughtful and inspiring post. Thank you for that.
I’ve been guilty of doing things tomorrow, but it’s usually because I’ve run out of time today. I actually need to work on relaxing more right not, which is a different kind of action but an action nonetheless.
Gosh I am so guilty of putting things off until “tomorrow”, especially being in school and not quite having my life figured out yet. Thanks for the reminder to live for right now. 🙂
You are WISE my friend!! Yup, totally guilty of this!!
Love this reminder. Love YOU for your ability to give these challenges such clarity!
Each day I seem to end up transferring the same tasks I don’t want to do to the next day. 🙁 I really need to take one day each week to get the items I really don’t want to do crossed off.
I am happy to report that this is not me. I am not a procrastinator. I never think, “oh I will do it tomorrow” – I try SO VERY HARD to accomplish EVERYTHING I need to in one day, if not ONE HOUR – ha! I stress out if it doesn’t happen. I have to talk to myself if I cannot accomplish everything in one day and say, IT’S OKAY, NO ONE IS DYING. ha ha! I actually have gotten better at this too. I need to CALM DOWN and let life take its course too. That being said, I will continue to always go 100%, just not 150% like I used to – it burns you out far too quickly. HA HA!
Trade you some of my procrastination for your tendency to do ALL the things… maybe we can balance each other out 😉
As like everyone else has already mentioned, this is one amazing post. Why is it that we all have a hard time facing fear with confidence? Why do we allow our mind to get the best out of us? Why do we continuously put off things that we can CHANGE in the moment? I know I’m guilty as charged. It can be such a sick thing to get out off, but if we truly just let it be we’ll all be in such a better place. We’ll realize that we can make the change even if things aren’t going well that day.
i think we fear change. change that takes a little bit of getting uncomfortable, yes? That’s when i say start to say yes to everything in order to FORCE change, and sometimes it’s needed,. right?
Reminds me of the movie “Yes Man” 😉
What a fabulous post, I love it! There are so many times I have told myself “tomorrow will be better.” Once I actually face what needs to be done, life is so much better.
Lovelovelovelove this.
The “why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?” mentality is what I’ve been trying to fill my life with over the past few months. And I can honestly say that it makes a big, big difference.
I’m so happy that we’re all discovering that together. xoxox
Well written and thought provoking post, Amanda. I can resonate with so much of it- even in many situations today- I’m always putting things off until tomorrow and when tomorrow eventually comes, it gets pushed further and further until it somewhat becomes forgotten or completely given up on.
At the moment, there’s a few things I want to achieve- several which relate to my blog, but what is holding me back the fear of judgement. That irrational fear which often held me back in the past. This post motivates me to just go forth and jump in the deep end! Thanks buddy!
Do it, do it, DO IT! I can -completely- relate to the fear of judgement when it comes to what I share on my blog — I can’t even tell you how many times I was literally shaking after publishing a post — but the community is amazing and I’ve always gotten a positive response. If you ever need to run a topic by anyone, don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail! Always willing to chat 🙂
Thanks so much for that- well based on all your posts, it really motivates me to post them! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, appreciate it! 🙂
beautiful post….I think this is something that we all need to be reminded of – that life is about living NOW, not about waiting around for something to happen!
Amazing post friend! There are a few things I have been putting off, and I need to just suck it up and do it! Ya know? The only thing holding me back is ME!
I definitely see where you’re coming from with putting things off in recovery. I would always tell myself that I would face that fear food ‘tomorrow’, that I would try to take an extra rest day ‘next week’…always trying to avoid the moment where I would push myself out of my comfort zone. In the end, forcing myself to remain stagnant just forced me to stay in an unpleasant, and quite frankly sanity and possibly life risking situation much, much longer than I had to. If I had just forced myself to make all those decisions and take all those steps that I was putting off…I would have saved myself a lot of grief.