Don’t Wait To Change

In Stop Waiting for "Big Events" to Change Your Life from  Hey Eleanor!, Molly Mogren Katt states,

“You don't need to wait until your decision makes sense to other people. Decisions made on behalf of your own sanity and happiness is reason enough. After all, it's you that actually has to live your life every single day. So why not make it awesome?”

I am always trying to justify changes to a specific time.

I’ll wait until the first of the week to start dieting.

I’ll start my running program on Monday.

I’ll make changes to my lessons next year.

I’ll do… at the start of the school year.

I’ll throw out unused clothing when school ends.

I’ll clean out…at the beginning of summer.

Does any of this sound familiar? I guess it is a form of procrastination and putting off the undesired until a later time.

Now I’m trying not to wait until I decide to do something. I’m trying to live in “today” and not “tomorrow.”

If I’m going to start watching what I eat, then I’m going to do it today. At that time, I’ll also start exercising. Why wait until the beginning of the week or a Monday if I’m ready to start now. There is more likelihood of me following through if I don’t put it off.

I am making changes in lessons as I think of them and not wait until another time because I usually forget to change them then. Then when it is time to reuse the lesson, I can’t always remember what I wanted to change.

I’m trying to throw out or donate at least 5 items of clothing a week. That way I don’t have to waste a chunk of time doing it all at once. This also ensure that I’m moving forward in my actions.

I’m learning that it is best for me not to wait to make changes that I want to make. I’m more likely to do something when I think of it instead of postponing it.

I think this would be good to teach our students. Don’t wait until the next grading period or the next year to start changing your study habits. Don’t wait until the weekend to start on that major project. Instead, start planning your strategies now. Don’t wait until the end of the week to organize your papers. Don’t wait until next year to start doing better. Do it now.

What changes do you want to make that you can start now? Please share.