Well, it’s the week of Thanksgiving in the United States, and it marks the beginning of a season in overindulgence.
Thursday is the landmark event. A day where there’s perhaps no more sacred tradition than eating until you have to unbutton your pants.
As a new precursor, we’ve even created Black Wednesday where under normal circumstances we’d overcrowd bars and overtax our livers. All in effort to celebrate the fact that nearly the entire country doesn’t work the following day.
Then, in quick succession are the two biggest shopping holidays of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Then, we race towards Christmas, and it’s a short break until New Year’s.
With full bellies, a few extra pounds and the world’s longest hangover, we vow to start over.
Dry January. Packed gyms and workout classes. Resolutions abound.
Everyone is getting back their glow.
Until it fades, it fails and it doesn’t turn into habit.
Typically, it’s the sad, ugly February weather that puts the cherry on top of seasonal depression in Chicago.
At this point, you’re hoping out loud, “The spring weather will turn it around.”
Those first few dollops of sunshine and a warming breeze get you running outside and ditching the red wine for rosé.
It isn’t long before you’re enjoying patio seasons and extra tacos and margaritas.
Then, you’re holding on to the warm weather under heaters as you’re not ready to be back inside.
All of the sudden, it’s Halloween—which is practically Thanksgiving.
And so it goes…
If this year, and all its absurdness, strangeness, sadness and injustice, has taught me anything, it’s that it’s pretty easy to fall back into the old cycle.
But instead of waiting for a resolution, what if you made a small change today?
What if for the next 38 days you built a habit or shipped something to carry you into the New Year?
Here’s what I’m doing:
Writing everyday.
40 pushups everyday.
On days that I workout (Ruck, Peloton, Yoga), I must complete my workout before 9:00 a.m.
I’m finishing three more books (Barking Up The Wrong Tree, Man’s Search For Meaning, How To Change Your Mind).
Releasing 3 new episodes of the Road To Wine Expert Podcast.
What’s on your To Do list until the end of the year? If you want to be held accountable and make it happen, write it in the comments below. I promise I’ll follow up and we’ll make some great stuff happen.