The problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that no one really makes New Year’s Resolutions.
We all make January Resolutions, missives of hope and protein shakes and yoga and book writing when the year feels new and pristine.
By July, those goals feel a million miles away, cooked out of our memory by the hot summer days and long humid nights.
But what if this could be the better half of the year?
That’s a question that’s bothered me for the last few weeks. For all the books I’ve written about chasing goals, I’ve never had that thought before. I’ve never thought about the back end of the year that way. (Even after I met author Bob Buford who wrote a book called “Half Time” about the second half of your life, I didn’t break the year down that way.)
Runners talk about this concept. It’s called a “negative split,” and means that you ran the second half of your race faster than the first half. It means that despite being tired, despite being hot, you actually picked up your pace.
What if that’s how the year worked, too?
What if the second half, was the best half?
We’ve both got six months left in 2018.
Six, glorious, wide open months just waiting for a goal. (Starting today, it’s 183 days until the end of the year or 30 days until they start selling Christmas products at the mall.)
I wrote down 39 different goals in the last month. Some are events like, “Take McRae to New York for her 13th birthday,” others are daily like, “Write a to do list every day.” Will I complete all of them? I won’t. Will I finish more this second half than I ever have before? I will.
I think you should think about the second half too.
To get you started, here are 10 of the goals I’m working on:
1. Sell out a comedy night.
2. Write 184 pieces of content.
3. Finish my new book proposal.
4. Ride my bike 500 miles.
5. Encourage 184 people.
6. Take Jenny on 12 dates.
7. Grow my Instagram to 100,000 people.
8. Blog once a week.
9. Launch a course on public speaking.
10. Ski one time.
Those goals are all over the place, but so is life. It’s always messy and chaotic in all the best ways.
I’ve already made some progress on those goals, too. I’ve written a few pieces of content. I’ve taken steps to launching the ticket sales for my comedy night. And, you can follow me on Instagram right here. That would be awesome!
Here’s to a better second half.
Here’s to finishing the year in the best way you ever have.
Here’s to making the next six months, the best six months.
P.S. Seriously, this is my Instagram and it’s magical. You should follow me.