Mindful Miles

The calendar is a powerful thing, isn’t it? It reminds me that we’re standing right on the edge—one short month to the end of the year, and just one post to go until the triple-digit milestone of Post 100.

As I walked this morning, thinking about that finish line, I started laughing about resolutions. We have this shared, funny tradition of waiting until the clock strikes midnight on January 1st to suddenly declare a new, improved version of ourselves. We treat the New Year like a magical switch that will automatically give us boundless willpower, only to quietly abandon the effort by Valentine’s Day.

It struck me that this waiting is absurd. The work on becoming a better version of self doesn’t start when the ball drops; it starts right now, with the foundation we choose to build in November and December.

This final month of the year is actually our launchpad. Instead of waiting for that arbitrary date, we can use this final “mile” to test-drive the habits we want to keep. Want to wake up earlier? Start now, even if it’s just 10 minutes earlier. Figure out the realistic rhythm of that new routine in a low-pressure environment.

You can also use this time to reflect on the commitments and mental clutter that are simply taking up space without adding any value; you need to declutter the foundation before you try to build something new on it.

The key is to build momentum, not pressure.

Entering January with two solid weeks of a new routine already under your belt is infinitely more motivating than starting from zero on a cold morning.

Let’s stop waiting for the perfect date and make this final sprint of the year the most important one. The future isn’t a place we stumble into—it’s the daily habit we choose today. Go start that small thing. Go build that better version of you!