Quitting after 8% is ridiculous
Imagine you’re going to the theater, really excited to see a new movie. You bring some friends, arrive early, order popcorn. The movie starts, but seven minutes and twelve seconds in, the movie isn’t making sense, so you get up, walk out, and drive home.
Imagine you’re watching a baseball game, and your favorite team is up to bat first. The first guy strikes out. The second guy strikes out. The third guy gets one strike on him, and you decide you’ve seen enough—that your team can’t possibly win this game, so you turn the TV off.
Imagine you want to eat some pasta, so you fill a pot to boil. After waiting one minute and 36 seconds, you get bored, so you turn the stove off, dump the water out, and leave the kitchen.
All of these scenarios seem ridiculous. Why? Because movies, baseball games, and pasta all take longer to develop. But do you know what doesn’t seem ridiculous? Giving up on your 2025 goals by the end of January.
January represents a little more than 8% of the year. Seven minutes and twelve seconds represents 8% of a 90-minute movie. Two outs and one strike represents 8% of a baseball team’s guaranteed at-bats. One minute and 36 seconds represents 8% of a 20-minute prep and cooking time for a pasta dish.
If you haven’t seen progress on your 2025 goals by the end of January, you might be thinking about quitting. More accurately, you might slowly let them slip away from your routine, until they become nothing more than an anxiety-inducing memory when someone asks you about them in April. Don’t quit your goals. Don’t let them slip away. February is as good a month as any to reset, adjust a few systems, and keep making progress.
