The end is nigh! Hopefully not THE end, but the end of the year, and it is closing in on us fast. Soon the festive revelries will be behind us and it will be the time for New Year’s resolutions and all that. But I have a question: if you are planning to make the new year a time for new beginnings, that is awesome, but why wait until then?

The old sayings tell us to strike while the iron is hot and that there is no time like the present.

If you have the motivation to make changes to your life to be leaner, stronger, fitter, healthier why wait for a month or more? Why not start to make small changes now?

Of course there will be all the festive shenanigans going on, with the parties, the eating and the drinking. But that shouldn’t stop you from making a start now.

In fact starting now when there is all that stuff going on will make it easier to carry on creating a new and better version of yourself once the hullabaloo has calmed down, and we enter the grey, cold days of January. If you can make healthier choices when there is so much temptation to eat, drink and be merry, then surely continuing with those choices when the temptations have been and gone will seem simple?

Another popular phrase is that the best time to start making changes is now.

That philosophy behind that is the idea that waiting to take action can lead to a greater likelihood of never doing it. The longer you wait, the more resistance you create between yourself and the action you need to take. This resistance can lead to fear, doubt, and laziness, making it less likely that you’ll take action.

Added to that, there is no perfect time to start anything, be that the New Year or now, so you might as well crack on with that thing before the motivation to do so leaves you. And by starting now, you can start to form systems and habits that will see you create the changes you are after.

And yes, I have said that it is never too late to start exercising. But remember the compound effect of the benefits of physical activity on your body. The earlier you begin, the quicker the benefits will begin to build up.

The changes don’t need to be massive or all encompassing. One or two small changes are all you might need to start. Adding a daily walk into your schedule, if you don’t already do so, is an easy win. Doing some form of exercise for a minute on the hour, every hour of your working day is another example of a quick and simple way to introduce a new way of doing things into your day, while still leaving you time to enjoy yourself at the office Christmas party.

If you aren’t sure where to start, or what you could do to help you towards whatever your goals might be, please do get in touch. I’d love to hear from you and help you move in the right direction to create the changes you might be after.