The Day After Perfect

So, here we are.

A full week into the New Year.

Studies show that, by this point, a quarter of us have already given up on our resolutions. By February, only one in five will still be standing and, by the end of the year, less than one in ten.

Why are we so bad at keeping the commitments we make to ourselves? Why am I so bad at it?

Well, for any number of reasons, I suppose.

Maybe I set unrealistic goals and quickly get discouraged.

Maybe I didn’t properly prepare and quickly feel lost.

Maybe it’s because of what Jon Acuff calls the “day after perfect.”

The “day after perfect” is the day after you fall short – the day after you cheat on your diet or skip a workout or spend more than your budget allows.

I don’t know about you, but, for me, “day after perfect” is usually the day after I get started. I’m always in that quarter of people who fall a week in.

And, usually, I stay down.

That's because I'm after perfection - not progress.

You'd think I would have learned by now.

When I pursue perfection, I'm inevitably disappointed. I give up and, in the end, make no progress whatever.

The cycle ends now.

Here’s to committing to get back up and keep moving forward the “day after perfect.”

Here’s to thinking differently about how we keep our resolutions.

Here’s to progress.