Start Strong, Finish Well

At the beginning of this year I set out to Prove It that I was serious about my new year resolutions.  These included some health and fitness goals to engage in regular and intense exercise, so I resolved to "start the year off strong, and let January set the tone for the rest of 2014."

Starting strong was easy for me as I embraced the warm weather, slower pace of the summer break and a renewed enthusiasm for a new year.  However, along the way I allowed the reality of a busy life and a bad diet to sabotage my efforts resulting in a mid-year slump.  As the kilojoules I ate exceeded the kilometres I rode on my bike my waist line expanded and my new years goals diminished!  

Fortunately, I have not finished the year along this same trajectory.

A discontentment with the consequences of my loss of focus and a desire to correct my course of action stimulated a renewed motivation to end the year well.  Instead of writing off my new year resolutions as unrealised good intentions, I determined to make the necessary changes to turn them into reality...at least in part.  The results?  I could mention the number of kilograms I've lost or the number of kilometres I have ridden, but the real result is a restored confidence in my ability to work towards my goals irrespective of my failures or the barriers faced along the way. 

Here is what I've learned this year...

• Never totally lose sight of your goals
• Never allow your failures to overshadow your opportunities
• Never think it is too late to start again or resume where you left off
• Always remember life happens
• Always try again
• Always finish well

While a new year is an opportune time to set new goals, it is not the only time.  If I had waited until January 1st to try again, I would have entered the new year from a position of failure.  However, finishing well establishes a platform of success to dare to set even greater goals and to start strong!  You could say that my resolve to make and keep new year resolutions is stronger because of a restored confidence that comes from finishing well.

In 2015 resolve to start strong and determine to finish well.  Don't let your failures in between discourage you from embracing every opportunity throughout the year ahead!