Your Next Move Matters More Than Your Next Goal

With the year 2024 winding down, many of us can’t help but look back on those ambitious New Year’s resolutions we made (remember them?!). Maybe it was the promise to prioritize well-being, a plan to learn something new, or a goal to finally bring that bold idea to life. Fast-forward to today, and if we’re honest, a lot of those resolutions may have been left somewhere along the way. Life has a way of shifting our plans, doesn’t it?

This is where we often go wrong. We think that setting goals is what moves us forward. But goals, inspiring as they are, are just ideas until we give them legs. It’s not the setting of goals that transforms us—it’s the doing, and often, it’s the messy, imperfect kind of doing that gets us there. Waiting for the “perfect” time to act usually means we’re left waiting indefinitely.

So, what if, instead of holding out for January 1st, we took just one imperfect step today? It doesn’t have to be grand; it just needs to be real.

One of my clients once shared how he would spent years waiting for “the right time” to start a fitness routine. After countless Januaries where gym memberships went unused, he finally decided to lace up his shoes and go for a ten-minute walk—not a marathon, just a walk around the block. That ten minutes turned into twenty the next week, and by year’s end, those small steps had grown into a routine he hadn’t imagined. And he did go on to do a half marathon too!!

Three things he, and many other serial procrastinators do to kickstart their goals, are:

1.????? Ditch Perfect. Start Small and Real. Perfection is a trap. How many times have we not started something because the conditions weren’t just right? Drop the need for perfection. Send the email, make that phone call, do the investment on self, carve out those few minutes every day or week to learn that skill. Small, real actions build real momentum.

2.????? Notice the Small Wins. They’re Gold. Instead of measuring your progress by how far you still have to go, look at what you have done. Each step, however small, is movement forward. Be Proud of it. Celebrate it. This is the most natural motivation to keep moving forward.

3.????? Build Self-Trust Through Consistency. Each time you take action—even a minor one—you’re showing yourself that you can follow through. It’s like making deposits into your own trust bank. Each small step creates a new pattern in your brain that says "I can", and washes out the earlier pattern that says "I cannot". This is more sustainable than any New Year’s resolution.

So, instead of waiting for the right time, make now your turning point. Start taking small, imperfect actions. They might not look like much today, but over time, they’ll stack up into something powerful. Remember the 1% rule that James Clear spoke about in the Atomic Habits. As per James Clear - "here’s? how? the math works out: if you can? get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more."

The bottom-line? Don’t wait for a perfect plan, a new year, or the right mood to strike. Start small, right now. Every imperfect step forward is a step closer to the growth you want. Take it—because your next move is what truly matters.