It’s easy to get overwhelmed by a project or a goal or a wish. This time of year our grand plans for making 2023 the best year ever may be falling by the wayside. Bit New Years resolutions are losing momentum at this point of the year. We aren’t seeing the results of our hard work so it’s not worth it anymore right?

Stay the course. Hold strong. It’s only been three weeks. If you’re like me, January has lasted forever. I barely even remember December. But it’s just over three weeks in. Our grand plans and dedication to carrying them out have barely begun to fully form. If you need some motivational help, here are a few things to think about.

Finances. For me this is the year I get my financial future squared away. This comes in a few different forms, but Boyfriend and I have actually put together a budget, we have savings goals, we’re investing in retirement. Yeah we’re super adulty now. And I am LOSINGMYEVERLOVINGMIND because none of these things are happening overnight. We did one day of budgeting and agreed to come back and update it at the end of the month. And it’s taking FOREVER. Stay the course.

Consider this Forbes article for the impact of small changes making big impacts.

Fitness. As I’ve maybe mentioned before, I’m training for a marathon. I’m still huffing and puffing. I’m still just as heavy as I was when I started this plan. I’ve been diligent, I’ve been consistent, it’s still not magically working. I’m not even halfway through the plan. I’ve got three months to go…Stay the course.

Health. I have been trying a higher-protein-than-before approach to my health. Some days I feel like it’s working, other days I feel like a mess. I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be. It took me a few days into the year to figure out my plan so I haven’t even been doing it for all that long. And I can’t understand why I haven’t lost 45 pounds since the beginning of the month?! Rude. Stay the course.

Let’s do some math on this.

Goals. Whatever your goal is, this approach is super crucial. Things don’t happen overnight. Instant gratification is not a real thing. We have to put in the work. We have to make the effort. In this world of constant comparison with insta influencers and all these people that have what you want, we have to remember that we’re seeing the highlight reel of their life, not the daily grind. We aren’t seeing all the work and effort that went into getting those highlights. We aren’t working with the same tools they have.

Let’s focus more on building good habits without making ourselves crazy.

We have to start our journey where we are. The daily small steps that translate into big changes over TIME. I talked about compound interest in an earlier post – time in the game matters much more than the amount of the contribution. The same is true for running and eating healthy and whatever your goals are – it’s the regular, consistent, daily habits that make the difference far more than the effort put into each individual thing.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle.

Repeatedly do small things to make big changes. Small daily calorie deficits over an extended period of time reduce weight. Small daily walks improve cardio fitness. Small, frequent investments that earn interest compound to make big impacts.

Consider some small thing you can do to work toward your goals – Can you make a food-swap to a lower calorie thing? Can you add five minutes to your daily workout? Can you add five dollars to your monthly payment toward financial goals? It doesn’t have to be big change. It has to be consistent improvement.

We don’t have to be immediately perfect. We have to be consistently working toward something better. Something we want. Perfection is over-rated. But improvement is incredible.