There’s a dedicated day for quitting.

It’s called Quitter’s Day.

It lands on the second Friday of January.

By this day every year, most people have already laid their New Year’s Resolutions in the grave.

The headstone reads, “Here lies the 50 pounds I was going to lose.”

“Beloved business idea to all.”

“In memory of all the dollar bills I was going to save. May they Rest in Peace.”

That’s right. We don’t even make it out of January before we give up on our goals.

Breaking the Cycle

I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t matter if you gave up. You can start again. Right now.

We are geared to be more motivated on those “fresh start” days – January 1st, your birthday, Mondays, the first day of a new job. Days when we close the book on the past and start penning a new chapter.

But you don’t have to wait for the perfect day to start your fresh start. January 1 holds no special magic (obviously).

2023 can still be your year.

The Broken Soundtracks of Your Mind

Chances are, your mind hit play on a negative soundtrack as soon as you read that last sentence.

“Yeah right, I’ll never lose that weight.”

“I could start that business, but there’s just too much going on this year.”

“The economy’s too bad to save that kind of money.”

“I fail every year. Why would this one be any different?”

Author Jon Acuff, in his book Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking, addresses these controlling thoughts and challenges us to learn some new soundtracks.

What soundtracks do you need to unlearn? Are there any new songs you could sing in their place?

What lies do you keep repeating to yourself that keep you celebrating Quitter’s Day?

Here are three of the most common ones I see.

“It has to be perfect or it’s not worth it.”

Where are all my perfectionists at? It’s not a lack of talent or smarts that keeps you from staying at your goals.

It’s that nagging thought that convinces you that you have to be an expert at the hobby immediately, that if you miss a day at the gym it’s all ruined.

Your new soundtrack: Progress over perfection. I will eat this elephant one bite at a time.

“I’ll start on it when . . .”

Ever made the excuses and pretended like they weren’t just a fancy way to say “procrastination.”

“I’m not ready to sell my art. I’ll put it on Etsy when I learn how to ___.”

“It’s just not the right time to introduce this to the market.”

“If I start eating right now, it’ll just get ruined by the holidays.”

You’re justifying excuses when you should be jumping all in. There’s no better time to start on a goal than when you feel motivated to do so!

Your new soundtrack: I will start now. The “perfect” time does not exist.

“I just don’t have time.”

You will never just have time. You have to decide what’s important to you and make time.

If you care about it enough, you’ll find the time. If you don’t, it’s not that important to you.

Your new soundtrack: I value this goal enough to prioritize my time.

Start Today

It doesn’t have to be the start of a new year, the start of your forties, or even a Monday to change the soundtracks playing in your mind.

Dig up those goals.

In their graves, lay to rest all of your doubts, excuses, and failures.

It’s time for a new epitaph: “Here lies the old me.”