Most behavioral change begins “tomorrow.” We say to ourselves things like:
“I’ll start working out tomorrow.”
“I’ll quit eating junk food tomorrow.”
“I’ll begin that project tomorrow.”
“I’ll read instead of watching TV tomorrow.”
“I’ll make time to meditate tomorrow.”
And the biggest lie of all:
“It’ll be easier tomorrow.”
Of course, when tomorrow arrives, we find another reason to delay. Tomorrow is always tomorrow, which means that the mythical day on which behavioral change is easy will never be today. Tomorrow never truly comes.
I’m certainly not the first person to observe this phenomenon:
https://garfield.dale.ro/garfield-1986-march-29.html
When you delay change, you make change harder. This is because inaction creates a toxic momentum in the feedback loop that controls your life. Excuses that are really just thoughts become hardened truths when you act as though they are legitimate reasons to avoid behavioral change. The more you delay, the more you believe that not feeling like doing the work means you actually can’t.
It’s an all-too-common delusion to believe that behavioral change will be easier tomorrow. It won’t. You won’t magically feel like doing the work tomorrow. In fact, because of inertia, you’ll feel even less motivated. And every day you delay increases the burden on your future selves.
Becoming better is a process, not an event. You can only engage in that process today. The good news is, every day of your life is today. You don’t have to feel like it in order to do it. And you don’t have to believe the excuses your mind generates. You can begin today.
Change, put off until tomorrow, never happens. So don’t start tomorrow. Start today. You won’t regret it.